Ever After
by helenamarkos
Summary: Every happy ending is just a new beginning...Sesshomaru X Rin PERMANENTLY ON HOLD
1. In the Beginning

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Inuyasha_ or any of its characters, no matter how I may wish otherwise. This story is written for pleasure and entertainment. I make no money from this (but if you would like to give me some…)

**Authors Note:** Reformatted for Please, any constructive critisism is appreciated (and constructive critisism is different than "this sux"...if it "sux" please let me know WHY it sux). And so you all don't think I'm retarded, I'm using the romanized version of the kanji "yokai" instead of the Americanized "youkai" for no other reason besides I like how it looks.

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When she was six, he drew her out from the land of the dead. She lifted her checkered yukata and frolicked after him through the plains of Musashi as he stalked his enemy and discovered the secrets of his father's legacy, Tenseiga. She was steadfast and true. Obedient, if not a bit rambunctious in her youth, and he enjoyed her presence and her laughter. When he thought he had lost her to the Master of Hell, it had taken everything in him not to cry out in agony. When his mother returned her to him, it took everything in him not to cry out in joy.

When she was eight, she learned her kanji. He asked Jaken to take a letter for him, a formality pertaining to the birth of his brother's offspring, and she watched entranced as the little imp made his brush dance across the page, putting meaning into brushstrokes. She pestered him constantly for a year about it, and finally he sat her down with Jaken, who would teach her every night before sleep would claim them. He had always let her do as she wished.

When she was twelve, she asked for her first kimono. It was then; he realized that she was growing up. A part of him resisted this, knowing all too soon she would move on with her life. She would marry and have her own, human family. He would be relegated to a distant memory, a fanciful dream. He eventually acquiesced, for she was persistent and quickly growing out of her new yukata, and brought her a chocolate, silk kimono covered in tiny pink cherry blossoms. He found that she was hard to deny.

When she was fourteen, she shed the rambunctious nature of her youth. She had spent a week with his brother's wife, learning about her blooming womanhood. She grew reserved with her new knowledge, but lost none of her cheerful nature. He had feared that she would leave him then. She was old enough to marry if she wished. She had become beautiful, with raven hair and sun kissed skin, and he could not help but notice the lingering stares of the village boys. However, she left with him when she had learned all she needed, and never turned to look behind her.

When she was fifteen, he realized he was in love with her. The thought had struck him so suddenly that he was not sure when his affection had grown beyond that of friendship and into this new…dimension. Certainly, she had grown up beautiful. Certainly, he had grown fond of her companionship. She stood by him in all tides, good or ill, and brightened his little corner of the universe…but never before had he felt lust towards her.

Upon discovering what it was he felt for this girl, an almost immediate backlash of shame assaulted him. More than her tender age, more than the fact that he raised her, she was human. He had condemned his father for his human concubine on more than one occasion, had let his father go alone to die at a mortal's hands because of his staunch hatred of the woman. Sesshomaru had no doubt, in a distant pit of hell; his father's raucous laughter could be heard throughout the netherworld.

For a time, things became uncomfortable between them. He could barely bring himself to look her in the eye, embarrassed by the emotion that this fragile, human female produced in him. He feared that she could never feel the same way towards him. After all, he had practically raised the girl, and her rejection would cause him more pain than his missing left limb. Sesshomaru had never been one to express his feelings, or much of anything for that matter, but this situation frustrated him beyond words.

He was terribly inexperience in this sort of thing. Never in his life had he trusted someone enough to draw so close to them. His life had been a path of conquest before he met her. A life of battles and blood and brutality. A life of honor and duty and pride. It left very little time for romantic notions. Before this point, Sesshomaru never knew he had such tender feelings in him.

She, of course, noticed the subtle change in his demeanor. He would avert his eyes when she drew up to walk next to him. He would increase his pace slightly, until she would fall behind with Jaken and Ah Un. It was as frustrating as it was confusing. Even more puzzling, he would depart for the early hours of the evening, until Jaken and herself were asleep. She would awake in the morning to find him standing stoically, looking into the sunrise. The moment he would notice her, he would toss a rock at Jaken and tell them in his deep, monotone voice, "Let's go."

Several months passed in this fashion. Finally, at her wits end, Rin endeavored to discover what incurred this change in her most beloved yokai.

_Jaken began traveling with Sesshomaru long before my birth. Perhaps he will understand what strange mood has overcome our lord._

Their group had come to a stop for the evening, as per their routine. Jaken used his staff to start a fire in the wood that Rin had collected for the evening. Ah Un dozed lightly under the leafy boughs of a maple. Sesshomaru stalked off into the night, under the pretense of securing the area, despite the fact that most of the yokai in the land were at peace since the demise of Naraku.

When Rin felt that Sesshomaru had been gone for a sufficient amount of time, and had traveled far away enough so that his sensitive hearing would not allow him to eavesdrop, she turned to Jaken. Said imp was thoroughly engrossed in his evening meal, slurping and chewing in a rather undignified manner.

_Really, it's a wonder I have any manners at all_, Rin thought with a wry smile as a trail of juice dripped its way down Jaken's chin.

"Jaken-sama,"

"Hrm-rm…what is it girl?" Jaken sputtered through his mouthful of mushroom.

Rin twirled her spitted fish between her fingers and wondered how she should go about questioning her longtime friend and caretaker.

"Hasn't Lord Sesshomaru seemed…somewhat distant lately?"

Jaken gave her a shrewd look, and turned back to his supper.

"Our lord keeps his own council," was all he said, and continued munching loudly.

Rin fell silent. She wasn't sure how to express her distress over the situation. It was not like Sesshomaru to ignore her in such a manner. They would often speak quietly when they had stopped for the evening. Well, she would speak, and he would listen. Occasionally, he would tell her stories of his youth, of his great and terrible father and his proud and aloof mother. Sometimes, she would sing the silly songs that she had made up when he was off on business that she could not attend. He would smile that smile of his that was true, and only in his eyes.

She missed their time together…He had grown very close to her heart and she had grown to love him. The whole situation made her sad and oddly uncomfortable.

_What if he realized my true feelings for him? _

It was an understandable concern. She never deemed it necessary to hide her feelings for him. However, her thoughts towards him had slowly been changing over the years. Where once she saw a friend and companion, almost a foster older brother, she now saw a man. Now, Rin was not an idiot. She knew full well _what_ Sesshomaru was. She had seen his true form on a few occasions, and it never ceased to awe her. This was why she knew that he would not appreciate her new opinion of him. He was a terrible inuyokai, a _mononoke_. She doubted he could ever find such a plain, human girl-child attractive. She had come to that conclusion long ago, when she knew what it was for a woman to love a man, and she was content to simply stand by his side. She valued their friendship, and doubted she could love any other as she loved him. None could compare.

After they had finished their supper, and had bedded down for the night, Rin was still awake. She looked up through the dark canopy above her, as the wind rustled the boughs gently. She listened to the light snoring of Jaken a few feet away, punctuated by the occasional grunt and snort of Ah Un. She wished…She wished that she knew how to discover the reason behind Sesshomaru's current mood. The stars peeked through the leaves above her. They winked and gave no answers.

Rin drifted in and out of sleep for a time, until she heard a light rustle from the bush, and the familiar sound of Sesshomaru's light footfalls. She feigned sleep, unsure if she was ready to confront _him_ about her feelings. She attempted to breath deeply and evenly, but it would seem that her lord was difficult to fool.

"You are still awake," he said quietly. His voice was rich and deep. Rin felt it rumble through her bones.

Rin opened her eyes, and peered askew at him from her palette. He had settled himself near Ah Un, resting against the thick trunk of the maple.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied, and it was true enough…though she refrained mentioning that he was the reason for her restlessness.

"Hn."

Deeper in the wood, a cicada buzzed from his tree, and crickets chirped their evening song, but their little clearing was silent. The air hung heavy with words unsaid

Somewhere, in a distant part of her mind, the part that was not particularly annoyed with him and fearful of the confrontation she knew was coming, she realized that Sesshomaru was a beautiful thing. The moonlight glistened on his white hair and kimono, giving him an otherworldly glow. His eyes were piercing, an iridescent gold in the soft light. A part of her longed to touch him, longed to tell him how much she loved him, would always love him. Not as a father, or a brother and far more than a friend…

But she could never bring herself to do it. And right now, she was so frustrated; she was on the verge of tears. At least he was finally talking to her, albeit in a monosyllabic fashion. Maybe she could make him understand. She realized that he would never feel towards her as she did him, but she always wanted to be with him.

_No matter what…_her heart cried out.

"Lord Sesshomaru…" she began timidly. He turned his attention from the dark forest and faced her, his eyes as cold as she had ever seen them. She wondered what he was steeling himself against.

"Lord Sesshomaru…have I…have I done something to offend you?"

He blinked stupidly at her.

"Why would you consider such a thing?"

Rin sat up slowly, as if afraid to spook him. She began absentmindedly picking at the hem of her sleeves; too curious to stop from asking, but too nervous to continue.

"It's just," she looked up briefly from her stitching to find him staring at her with an unnerving intensity, and immediately resumed her work.

"Just…" he supplied.

Sesshomaru could barely contain the nervous knot that had developed in the pit of his stomach.

Sesshomaru, by his very nature, was a terrible liar. He could refrain from mentioning, he could even exaggerate the truth a bit, but he could never flat out lie…to anyone…especially _her_. If his innocent, little Rin ever realized the kind of thoughts he had been entertaining about her as of late…he would lose her. He would rather endure a lifetime of wanting, as long as he could be near her.

"You have been distant as of late, my lord." Rin stated, and Sesshomaru gave himself a little mental shake.

Rin looked up at him. His silence was deafening, and she wasn't sure how to continue. For a split second she thought to drop the conversation entirely, but she knew that it would solve nothing.

_This needs to be said…_she thought to herself_. And he will never mention it,_ _that is not his way. He will simply ignore it, even if that means ignoring_ me.

She thought of all the years she had spent with him. She thought of their quiet conversations, his steadfast protection of her, and she pressed on.

"Lord Sesshomaru, we are friends, aren't we?" she asked, a hint of exasperation to her voice.

His eyes widened marginally in surprise. He turned his head away from her, to hide the slight color that came into his cheeks, and tried to think of the last time he blushed.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" She could not stop the waver from filtering into her voice.

_Why doesn't he answer me?_

"I suppose," he replied quietly into the night.

"You suppose?"

Sesshomaru turned towards her again.

_By heaven, she is lovely._ He thought wildly.

Her hair spilled like ink over her shoulders, framing her heart-shaped face. Her eyes…her dark almond eyes were fathomless, but sad. He could never bear to see her sad. He realized, in his foolishness, he had hurt her in an attempt to hide his feelings. Now that hurt was quietly spilling over her cheeks.

Words had never been his forte. They were such slippery, useless things, as easily taken back as they were given. He was so _bad_ at this, but now…now a part of him wished he were a more eloquent man, if only for Rin.

"Rin." His voice was breathy, barely a whisper.

Rin looked up from her mangled hem, trying her best to hold in her tears. His eyes softened marginally, his mouth pursed.

"We are friends," he said.

Then, she smiled.

Sesshomaru would be a liar if he did not admit to himself that it brought him no small joy to see her smile. _He_ rarely smiled, and when he did, it would only forebode great destruction. It was not the habit of a dog to show his teeth to anyone other than an enemy. However, Rin's smile brought only a warm feeling to his chest. It held no malice, no ulterior motives, just happiness. That word-_happiness_-was as foreign to him as smiling in joy, yet Rin had brought both to his life from the moment he met her.

She rose from her palette and moved to sit next to him, startling him slightly from his reverie. As she settled beside him with a rustling of silk, he realized that he had not been this close to her in months. Her proximity was making him feel like a thousand moth yokai were fluttering and tearing apart his insides.

"Why have you not been speaking to me?" she asked, looking up at him with those dark, innocent eyes. She laid her hand lightly on his, and he was very tempted in that moment to kiss her.

_Restraint_, he chanted to himself.

"I have…" he turned away from her again in an attempt to gather himself. He was so ridiculously _nervous_.

"I have not meant to neglect you," he whispered hoarsely.

Rin cocked her head to the side, confused by his tone.

"But…what is wrong? Have I done something to anger you?"

"You have done nothing wrong," he answered.

Her gaze remained troubled.

Sesshomaru realized in that moment that, if he did not admit his feelings for her now, he doubted he ever would. Not until she was old, and it would be too late. She was so painfully _mortal_, and her time with him would be a blink in his many years. Even if she did not leave him now, he knew he would lose her eventually to the steady march of time. Was his pride worth forgoing the joy that this girl brought him?

_No, _he suddenly realized as he looked into her open expression, tracing the delicate curve of her jaw to her soft lips with his eyes_, it is not._

He had come to a decision. He could not continue to keep her with him and ignore her. To do so would not only be foolish, but also unfair to the both of them. She was right; they _were_ friends. Sesshomaru never had a true friend in his life. Jaken, perhaps, could also be called a _friend_, but Rin…Rin was different. He had to tell her. It had taken him a great deal of time to come to terms with how he felt towards her, and now that he had finally accepted these emotions that she invoked in him, he did not want to look back on their time together and feel regret. Whatever her choice may be…

The silence stretched on. It seemed like Sesshomaru was struggling with something. It was almost startling; Rin had never seen indecision in him before.

Soon, however, it passed. He turned to face ahead. For a moment, he said nothing, his expression unreadable.

"Rin."

Rin jumped, and looked wide-eyed at him.

_He seems different all of a sudden_, the thought, though strange and seemingly irrelevant, brought her some measure of comfort.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru."

"I…" he stopped and sighed audibly, "I…"

"My Lord?" Rin felt her fear bubble up again. It was not like Sesshomaru to stumble over his own words. It was even less like him to sigh.

_Perhaps he is ill…do youkai get ill? _

Sesshomaru took Rin's smaller hand in his own, brushing his thumb over her palm. Rin was dumbfounded, and slightly afraid. This…this was not like Sesshomaru at _all._

He was staring at their coupled hands intensely, as if trying to divine a great truth from them. Then he looked up at her. Something flashed across his eyes that Rin had never seen before. It made her breath hitch. It was sad and beautiful and frighteningly _intense_, and Rin had a feeling that it would change what was between them forever.

Before she could react, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. It was light, chaste, but lingering. A strange tingle worked its way strait up her spine, and she resisted the urge to shiver. When he pulled away, that strange look was still there, but coupled with what seemed like fear. Rin could barely think, let alone discern what had just occurred.

_Was he…was that…_

"L-lord Sesshomaru?" her voice sounded strange in her ears, distant.

"I…do not expect you to feel the same way," he said, turning away from her, "you may…reject me, if that is your wish."

_Reject him? _Rin thought incredulously.

Rin pulled her hand from his, and for a moment, Sesshomaru thought he felt his heart drop strait to his stomach. Then, there was a feather light touch at his cheek, and she was turning his face towards her. She leaned in, and pressed her lips against his in return, just as chastely, but also just as passionately. When she pulled back, her eyes were shining, and she was smiling at him.

He loved that smile…


	2. Joy and Trepidation

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Inuyasha_ or any of its characters, no matter how I may wish otherwise. This story is written for pleasure and entertainment. I make no money from this (but if you would like to give me some…)

**Authors Note:** This is an overhaul of my previous version of this chapter. Now that I have finished the bulk of my freelance work, I am trying to get this written. However, there were quite a few corrections I wanted to make on chapters 1 & 2 before pressing forward.

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There were times when his entourage never ceased to amaze him. When he announce to Jaken and Ah Un, the only two persons whom he cared to share this news with, the elevated status of his former ward, they provided very little reaction. Jaken looked up at the two of them; Sesshomaru standing as tall and aloof as ever, and Rin by his side, her hands folded demurely in front of her as she blushed slightly. He smiled knowingly, nodding his head and continued to twirl his spitted rabbit over the fire. Ah Un barley gave them a glance as he dozed nearby, briefly opening one lazy eye and grunting in recognition. His other head remained asleep.

_'Really'_, Sesshomaru thought, slightly exasperated, '_was it _that _obvious!'_

Sesshomaru decided to court Rin formally, to which she had no qualms. Both had an idea about the deeper aspects of a physical relationship. Rin's were acquired through the patient tutelage of Kagome, and Sesshomaru's, through several horrifically embarrassing adolescent conversations with his father. However, untried knowledge is just that…_untried_. They moved forward in their new relationship slowly, neither wishing to rush one another.

For his part, Sesshomaru tried his best to romance his young intended. Overall, their interaction did not change much from what it was. They still engaged one another in conversation, though Sesshomaru attempted, in his own stiff and reserved way, to be more vocal in his praise of her.

Rin could not help but appreciate his efforts.

One night, feeling particularly indulgent and of good spirits, he took her to a secluded moonlit lake. The air was beginning to warm from the winter chill, and a full moon cast a soft glow upon the water. Rin was thrilled, and shocked that he would think of something so romantic. She smiled brightly as they walked, fingers entwined, along the bank. Occasionally a strangely shaped rock or new spring bloom would catch her eye and she would stoop to examine her new treasure, holding it out to him to likewise admire. Sesshomaru could never understand her excitement over such simple things, but marveled at her ability to find beauty in the ordinary, and did his best to humor her enthusiasm.

'_And_,' he thought as his _ordinary_ human girl crouched down to acquire yet another rock, that she proclaimed bore a striking resemblance to a dragon, '_maybe we are more alike in that respect than I would care to admit.' _

Rin straitened to show him her grand find, and was startled as he drew her against his chest, leaning forward to kiss her breathless.

It was a cool, breezy day in early spring when they finally sealed their relationship in matrimony. The ceremony commenced with little fanfare, and was performed by Bokusenou. No houshi would provide such a service, and the ancient magnolia was the closest thing to a holy man that Sesshomaru knew. Jaken and Ah Un bore witness to the couple's union. The imp feigned stoicism, but his large, watery eyes gave him away. Rin had become like a daughter to him, and Sesshomaru was his powerful lord. To Jaken, there could not be a more perfect joining.

Rin wore a formal kimono for the event, something she kept carefully packed away for special occasions. She used a wreath of Bokusenou's blossoms to adorn her hair, which fell loose down her back. Sesshomaru was dressed in his normal attire, but he could not help but allow her to indulge in this. After all, it was his eyes that would benefit from Rin's fussing.

When all was said and done, Sesshomaru and Rin departed alone. Sesshomaru gave the imp and dragon a cursory glance, and told them quietly,

"We will return in a week."

Jaken snickered. Sesshomaru replied with a stone to his temple.

As the new couple faded from view, Jaken turned to Ah Un and patted him gently.

"It looks as if we are left behind again, my old friend," Jaken lamented.

Ah Un sniffed in response.

"Does this new development disturb you, imp?" the deep voice of Bokusenou interrupted.

Jaken turned wide-eyed to look at the tree demon.

"_Disturb_ me?" he questioned, "Why on earth would it?!" he added indignantly.

"It would appear that your lord has inherited his father's taste in women," the tree replied, "Certainly, you must fear the repercussions of his marriage to a human. Not even his great father was foolish enough to marry his mistress. He will be challenged more for this action then when he inherited his mantle at such a young age."

"No yokai can stand against Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken exclaimed. Ah Un grunted in agreement behind him.

"Indeed," replied Bokusenou, "but certainly he has grown soft since he met that girl."

"Just what are you implying," screeched Jaken, "he may not kill without reason anymore…and, indeed, my head has received less abuse, but Lord Sesshomaru is still the most feared yokai in the lands. "

"I'll have you remember," Jaken added, "that not even that scoundrel Naraku could stand against him."

Bokusenou laughed deep and long, his boughs shaking with his mirth.

"You are truly a loyal servant," he said smiling, "I am glad to see that my former master's son has such fine companions. Fear not, little imp, I meant no harm by my words."

_'He was testing me_,' Jaken realized, '_Harrumph!_ _As if my loyalty to Lord Sesshomaru could ever be questioned'_

And with that self-satisfied thought, Jaken waited with Ah Un until their master's return.

Sesshomaru, true to his word, returned with Rin in exactly a week's time. Jaken almost didn't recognize the pair. There was a comfortable familiarity to them that had never existed before, as they strode up the forest path to their waiting companions. The imp could not contain a quiet bout of laughter.

_'Well,' _he snickered, nudging Ah Un slightly_, 'they certainly seem to have gotten _something_ out of their systems_.' Ah Un tilted his heads slightly in the imp's direction, his thought's running along the same path.

If Sesshomaru noticed the exchange, he never mentioned it, merely helped Rin on to Ah Un's back and took the lead of his little group.

They continued in their normal routine. Occasionally, Rin and Sesshomaru would slip away, only to return a few hours later. Jaken kept this observation to himself, though he and Ah Un were placing bets as to when their traveling party would grow. As fate would have it, they would not have to wait long.

A few months after their marriage, Rin became ill. Sesshomaru, suddenly and uncharacteristically deathly afraid of fatherhood, made no move to ask her about her condition.

_'No sense in jumping to false conclusions_,' he decided, '_If she is… If she were _that_ then she would have told me_. _Her scent could have shifted for any number of reasons.'_

They had stopped for the evening. Jaken was holding Tenseiga, while Sesshomaru ran a sharpening stone over the blade. The sword really didn't need the attention, but it was a mundane task that allowed Sesshomaru to let his thoughts wander to Rin. They had settled amidst a grove of cherry trees loosing their blossoms. The ground was peppered with tiny white petals, giving it the appearance of fallen snow. Rin had gone to bathe with Ah Un to keep watch. Normally, Sesshomaru would accompany her, but tonight she asked to go with only the dragon for protection.

"I would like a moment alone with my own thoughts," she snapped.

Sesshomaru, a bit taken aback, waved her off, only adding to her ire. She gave him the most impressive scowl he had ever seen on a woman, human _or_ demon, and flounced off angrily, grumbling about insensitive yokai.

_'She has certainly been on edge lately_,' Sesshomaru thought as the stone rang across the metal of Tenseiga. He was so engrossed in his concern for her, that he did not hear her return.

"Sesshomaru," Rin cut into his thoughts. Sesshomaru cringed at the edge of her voice. It did not sound as though she had a relaxing time at the hot spring.

"Sesshomaru," Rin said more sharply, and Sesshomaru realized that she had expected him to answer her.

_'Hn…I would have killed anyone else. I must truly care for this confusing creature.'_

"Yes…Rin?"

"I…I need to speak with you," she said, a slight quiver to her voice.

Sesshomaru turned to his vassal as he retrieved Tenseiga from him and returned it to its sheath.

"Jaken,"

"Yes, my lord."

"Take Ah Un to graze."

"Yes, my lord," the imp said with a bow.

Jaken gave a quick glance to Rin as he hurried to take the dragons reigns and lead him away. Rin remained facing forward, her steady, steely gaze on her husband. Her face was masked with a lack of emotion.

_'She has picked up far too many habits from Lord Sesshomaru,'_ he realized.

After their vassals departed through the tree line, Sesshomaru motioned for Rin to sit next to him. She walked resolutely to her place by his side and sat, cushioned by his pelt. Sesshomaru could sense her distress.

"What troubles you, Rin?" he inquired. Deep down, he had a suspicion as to what she wanted to talk to him about.

"I…am pregnant, my lord."

Sesshomaru bowed his head.

"Hn, I thought as much."

"You knew!" Rin replied incredulously, suddenly furious.

Sesshomaru gave her a sharp look of his own.

"I did not _know_…I suspected," he clarified, "Your scent has changed," he added quietly.

Rin's anger subsided as quickly as it had risen. She bowed her head, shifting beneath his gaze.

"You are not happy with this development?" he asked, "There _are_ certain repercussions for the activities we have been engaging in."

Rin blushed, her lips drawing up and a mischievous grin.

"Hentai," she breathed, "Of course I am happy…that's not to say…Well, I wasn't sure if _you_ would be pleased."

"Rin, we have discussed this…"

"I _know_," she cut him off, somewhat testily, "but theoretical children are different from actual children. You said that there might be a possibility that we could never have children. I thought that you might have been hoping for that."

_'Why on earth would she think…Hn, Inuyasha.'_

_Of course she would be concerned, considering the rocky relationship he had always held with his brother. It was one of the few things that he never talked to her about. It was his business. His own, personal vendetta. His dislike of Inuyasha had nothing to do with her or anyone else._

"Rin"

Rin looked up from her lap, her soft features drawn in worry. Sesshomaru leaned towards her. Cupping her cheek, he spoke reassuringly,

"Any child you could give me would make me happy," he said, "When we discussed this before, I only wanted you to be aware of all the possibilities."

"But…" she began timidly, "what if the child is like the one you told me about. What if it is like your cousin."

Sesshomaru pulled back from her, somewhat shocked. He had forgotten that he told Rin about that particularly nasty part of his family history.

_'What if this child _is_ like that unfortunate creature'? _He thought.

His heart sped up at the very idea of such a thing. He had not even considered that possibility for his own children. He wasn't even sure that they would have children at all. Apparently, Rin had taken that conversation to heart.

_'__'It is my own foolishness, not to have prepared myself for such an occurance. We may have discussed it, but I never gave it a second thought. We should have never carried on in such a fashion' _he glanced aside at Rin's worried face_, 'but she agreed, and here we are. There is no going back now.__'_

The union of yokai and man was rare, and even more rarely did that union result in a child, a hanyou. Some hanyou were born with an appearance like his brother. Overall, quite human, with some visages of their demon heritage. Others, like the demon horticulturalist Jenengi, resembled their demon parent in their true form. They were not considered beautiful by the standards of men, but were still powerful in their own right. Then, there were the least fortunate offspring. Deformed beyond reason, these children were sickly and weak from birth. They were doomed to die a painful death as a result of their own ill breeding.

When Sesshomaru was still young, before his father fell in love with a human princess, and the name _Inu-No-Taisho_ was spoken in awe and reverence, his father wanted to teach him a lesson in responsibility. The Great Dog General did not always posses a soft spot for human females. In fact, there was a time that the idea of a hanyou in the family both disgusted and embarrassed him. It was in this vein that he raised his son. A Yokai Lord that was not powerful, aloof and without distraction was doomed to fall.

"Sesshomaru," the booming voice of his late father echoed in his mind, "you must be careful, my son, never to draw too close a human."

"We were only playing, father," his younger self argued resolutely.

He was just a boy by the standards of his kind, a scant seventy-five years old. Sesshomaru found himself visiting a nearby village to observe these strange, mortal creatures. He met The Girl, for after these many long years he had forgotten her name, when she had sprained her ankle in the woods. He brought her home, amidst the startled, frightened cries of her family and returned later in secret to see if she was well. They became fast friends, for he was the youngest child in the fortress. It was comforting to be around someone his own age, especially since she didn't make that awful screaming racket, like her parents had when he returned her to them. They met secretly in the forest, played for a few hours, and went their separate ways by dusk. She was good natured and honest and didn't bow or fawn over him like his father's annoying courtesans.

He liked her.

"You kissed her, Sesshomaru"

Sesshomaru blushed the shade of his stripes.

"I just…wanted to see what it was like," he whispered, ashamed.

The Inu-No-Taisho gave his son a sideways glance as he led him down another level of corridors.

"Indeed," was all he said.

The Inu-No-Taisho housed his family in these caves, built in the days of Sesshomaru's great-great-great grandfather, before the humans' immigration from the continent. The oldest and deepest caverns, being those they now passed through. As he followed his sire deeper into the labyrinth that was his father's fortress, he began to ponder the motives of this outing.

"Where are we going, father?" Sesshomaru wondered aloud.

"I am taking you to meet your new cousin, Hotaru," his father answered, his tone bored.

"I thought you said I couldn't meet her," Sesshomaru said, looking up to his father's expressionless face. He was told of his great aunt's pregnancy several months ago. A samurai she fancied for a time supposedly sired her child. Sesshomaru could not deny that he was curious as to what a hanyou looked like. He had heard of them before only in stories.

"I have changed my mind," his father replied stoically, and Sesshomaru did not like his tone.

His aunt's new chambers were deep within his father's compound. Why they had moved her here, Sesshomaru didn't know. He did know, that this particular part of their home made his hackles rise. It was dark and dreary, the walls chipped by innumerable ages and the air dense and stuffy. Very few ventured down here. Not even the staff would come unless specially sent for.

Only Yuki and her new daughter resided in these corridors.

The Inu-No-Taisho came to stop in front of a set of shoji doors. They were set into the very stone of the mountain, the wood even older than the current Lord of the Dogs. A soft glow came through the water-stained paper, and Sesshomaru could hear the mewling of an infant on the other side. His father paused, his fist hovering over the doorframe as a look of concern crossed his face, before knocking gently on the screen.

"Who is it?"

"It is I, your nephew," replied his father.

The shoji screen opened to reveal his great aunt. She was a tall woman, almost as tall as his father, with snow-white hair that was pulled loosely at the base of her neck. Her eyes were the brilliant blue of a clear afternoon sky. She wore a simple, blue yukata and a tired expression. When her eyes alighted on the pair, she seems to become even more tired.

"How may I help you, my lord?" she inquired, giving Sesshomaru a quick, cursory glance.

"I have brought Sesshomaru to meet his cousin," his father replied. Yuki's expression flashed anger for a moment, then she bowed and pulled back to allow the pair to enter.

"As my lord wishes," she said vehemently.

Sesshomaru entered the room with his father. It was dressed simply and bathed in a warm light from a small lantern. A woven basket lay next to the futon, heaped in linens. Sesshomaru could hear a soft whimpering from underneath the cloth, which rustled occasionally.

Yuki led them to the basket and knelt to reveal her daughter from beneath her covering. Sesshomaru's eyes widened in horror.

The infant, if what he was seeing could be called an infant, whined at the sudden burst of cold. Her naked skin was wrinkled and dark with liver spots. Eyes, misshapen and asymmetrical, were clouded over in blindness. Her arms were half formed, stunted and curled in, and the fingers were arthritic claws with bulging joints. What he thought was mewling was the child's labored breathing. Her chest heaved and wheezed with each breath, as though every intake of air through her twisted, toothless mouth was painful.

Sesshomaru wanted to vomit. The girl reeked of death, and being in the room with her was making him nauseous.

"You should just kill the wretched thing," his father said, breaking the uneasy silence, "And spare her this misery."

"I will do no such thing," Yuki spat, throwing the covers back over her daughter.

"This is _my_ child," she continued, "I have obeyed you, and kept her away from your precious courtesans and generals. I will not slay my own daughter. If this is the life she has been given, then I will see it through with her, and make her comfortable until she passes."

"It would be kinder to kill her," his father replied, and turned to leave, "Sesshomaru, come."

As they traveled back to the main section of the compound, his father was silent. Then he turned to his son, who was still trying to reign in his queasy stomach.

"Do you see now, why I have told you to stay away from mortals?" he asked, his voice somber, "No good can come from a liaison with them. Yuki will be saddled with that creature until it dies."

Sesshomaru later learned that the girl passed several weeks later. The child's organs had not grown at the same rate, her heart finally gave out in exhaustion. Yuki kept her heavily medicated with liquid opium, and remained steadily by her side until her final breath. There was no fanfare for Hotaru's funeral. If Sesshomaru did not meet his cousin, he would have never known of the girl's existence.

Sesshomaru was forbidden to return to the village. What became of his friend, he never knew. When he came of age, and started out on his own, he did stop there along the way to securing the outer boarders. He found nothing, the village long destroyed. Six decades had passed since he played there.

Later, when the Inu-No-Taisho took a human princess as his mistress, Sesshomaru wondered why his father did not remember the lesson that he taught his son a scant century prior. Inuyasha hadn't been born with the horrible deformities that Hotaru had, but that didn't mean that his conception was not a gamble. Humans and yokai were simply different from one another.

Sesshomaru rarely though of Rin as human, her upbringing gave her a more yokai way of looking at things. It was one of the reasons he conceded so easily to his heart in the matter of marrying her. She was, simply, not like other humans; but at this moment, he was keenly aware of her humanity.

Sesshomaru drew Rin against him with his good arm, nuzzling her hair. If he focused his numinous hearing on her, he could barely make out the steady, second thumping of a tiny heart.

_'There is no way of knowing what form this child will take_,' he reassured himself, '_we can only wait and see_.'

"Do not fear," he told her gently, "all will be well."

And in his heart, he hoped for it to be true.


	3. Reborn

Authors Note: Ah, It seems I got this done before Christmas after all. Let me know if you guys catch any typos. I try to be careful and reread things several times, but we all make mistakes.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!!

0000

_'If I had anywhere else to bring her, I would have..._' Sesshomaru thought disdainfully as he watched the young miko stare slack-jawed at him; her eyes bulging to near-Jaken proportions.

Higurashi Kagome had been having a very nice, stress-free morning before this point. She awoke to the warm presence of her four-year-old daughter nestled beside her. Mouth agape and arms curled under head, she reminded Kagome of a silver-haired guppy. Inuyasha's side of the bed was a rumpled mess. A testament to the fact that he woke earlier, most likely taking her eight-year-old son, Dachi, to hunt for breakfast. She gazed down fondly at the curled up ball of silver hair and tangled limbs that was her little Kia and, feeling suddenly sixteen again, gently tweaked one fuzzy triangle.

_'Cute!_' Kagome thought giddily. 

It pleased her to no end that her children so resembled their father. If she were able to take them to see her mother, she had no doubt that their grandmother would feel the same way. However, the well was closed, and she was stuck here since the destruction of the Jewel. Kagome clucked softly to herself, the unbidden thought leaving a bad taste on her subconscious.

_'No sense dwelling over bad thoughts_,' Kagome berated, sighing mentally. 

She had a wonderful, loving, _if not foul-mouthed_, husband that looked after her, two brilliant children and a flourishing career as the village miko. A few years into her training, she was asked to assume Kaede's responsibilities, since old age had finally snuck up and stolen much of the old priestess's former strength. All in all, things were good for her here. Sango and Miroku had settled in the village after their marriage, and were rearing a small army of girls a short walk away. Kagome was able to see them often, and Kia had plenty of 'cousins' to play with. Dachi was a little put out by all the female company, but he and his father were nearly inseparable, and Shippo visited often, since he made a home in Inuyasha's Forest. 

'_Yes_,' Kagome thought her smile tinted with melancholy, _'a good life_.'

In the main room, she could smell Kaede starting breakfast, and could hear the quiet mulling about of Inuyasha and Dachi, as they attempted not to wake 'the girls.' Kagome smirked to herself, stretching leisurely, and decided not to delay what was shaping up to be a fine day. Only a few elderly residents of the village needed some medicine delivered.   
Luckily, nothing worse than the common cold had sprung up since the onset of winter. Her first winter in the Sengou Jedi was met with an onslaught of influenza. Kagome had never really thought about the wonders of penicillin and lotion soft tissues until she was faced with a feudal era epidemic. That had been a hard winter.She was going to show Dachi some archery techniques, upon his request. As much as he resembled his father, Kagome was glad that he had her patience and eagerness to learn. When she had suggested that Dachi take up the bow, she didn't expect the zeal that he would exhibit, and he was fast approaching her in skill. 

Later, perhaps, they could go over Miroku and Sango's for dinner, Sango had just invited her last night. No doubt her long-time friend longed for company outside her perverted husband and young brood of girls. Sango hadn't given up her former profession, far from it. Yokai extermination had become a fair income for the couple. Between Sango's slaying and Miroku's (sometimes valid) exorcisms, the two had been able to provide a comfortable life for their offspring. Already her oldest girls, Mizuki and Akemi, were shaping into fine warriors. 

And if she recalled correctly, Sango mentioned that Shippo might be there as well. Dachi would enjoy another boy near his own age to play with. The kit divided his time between Kagome and Inuyasha's hut and Sango and Miroku's, with a fair share of time spent in the wilds of Inuyasha's forest. He was growing fast and learning a great deal from his hanyou friend in terms of fighting...and, unfortunately, language.

Yes, Kagome was quite pleased with the way things had come together after the defeat of Naraku, and she couldn't have asked for a happier ending. Pushing the bad thoughts of broken wells to the back of her mind, Kagome dressed and joined her family for a quiet, comfortable morning meal.

So imagine her surprise when, mid breakfast, Inuyasha suddenly dropped his bowl and sniffed the air.

"_Shit_," he hissed.

"Inuyasha!" she admonished, "Not in front of the children!" Kagome's building wrath quickly died. The hanyou's back was stiff as a board, all muscles tensed and seemingly ready to spring at the slightest movement. Kagome hadn't seen him this upset in years. "Inuyasha...What is it?"

And in one breath, Kagome's very fine day turned into a not so pleasant looking day.

"Sesshomaru."

"_Sesshomaru?_"

"Yeah."

"_Here?_"

"Yeah," Inuyasha rumbled. He rose from the floor, grabbing Tesseiga as he barreled through the front door.

"Shit!" Kagome squeaked. Dachi and Kia gasped in unison. Their eyes wide with shock at their mother's suddenly colorful language. 

"Stay here," Kagome told them, nodding at Kaede, "stay with them Grandmother Kaede, we don't know what he's here for."

"Of course, child," Kaede replied, her features grave. With that, Kagome gathered up her bow and quiver, and followed Inuyasha outside. She could not have been prepared, no matter how hard she tried, for the sight that awaited her.

Standing twenty feet from their front door was Sesshomaru. In the newly fallen snow, he looked like an apparition derived from a Dickens' novel. If it weren't for those cold, otherworldly eyes, Kagome might even have considered such a sight beautiful, in the way one might find a mountain or the vast ocean horizon beautiful. Mighty and untouchable, with an air of danger to it. 

His green vassal held the dragon's reigns. The imp was suspiciously quiet, and sporting a mean looking lump on his left temple. Rin sat atop Ah Un, obscured by the beast's massive heads and the dour looking yokai that had recently set up residence on their property.

Sesshomaru's face was characteristically blank, as if the universe itself conspired to bore him. His youki, however, was disturbingly turbulent. Kagome watched as dark waves rolled off of him in droves. She was surprised he hadn't melted the snow beneath him into a puddle.

"What the hell," Inuyasha ground out, "are you doing in my front yard, you _bastard fuck_?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome hissed.

_'Some things will never change_,' she thought, with no small measure of exasperation.

Sesshomaru spared his brother a brief, withering glare before turning his attention towards Kagome.

'_Eep!_' Her brain screeched, _'What does he want with me!'_

Sesshomaru creeped Kagome out in a very real, very creepy kind of way. He was eerily quiet, horrifyingly cruel, and viciously cunning. Not to mention the fact that he tried to eviscerate Inuyasha on more than one occasion. The recent lack of disemboweling, while a relief, was still highly suspect. No matter how often he had fought alongside them, whether intentionally or not, he was still their most ambiguous ally. 

"Miko," his baritone voice boomed, "Rin requires your assistance."

_'Rin?_' Kagome thought absently.

The last time they saw Sesshomaru was two years ago, when Rin required certain...educating that he couldn't provide. He dropped her off for a week so Kagome could recite the birds and the bees to a very inquisitive fourteen-year-old girl. Rin was a pleasant enough young woman. A bit strange, but that could be easily attributed to her equally strange yokai guardians. She was always more content to sit alone than with a group of village girls her own age. While she nearly talked Kagome's ear off half the time, when some of the young women in the village had come to call on her, she became quiet and sullen not sparing a glance in their direction. When Sesshomaru returned for her, she nearly jumped for joy in her excitement. Still, she was well mannered and polite, of generally good spirits. Kagome just felt she was a little maladjusted to living among other humans.

_'Maybe she's sick_,' Kagome thought anxiously. _'He really would have nowhere else to bring her_.'

"It's alright, Inuyasha," Kagome assured her husband with a raised hand, her concern washed over her features, "Let me see what she needs."

Inuyasha's hand _twitched_ towards Tesseiga, but he made no move to draw the fang as Kagome approached Sesshomaru. Holding her bow in a white knuckled grip Kagome made her way towards the stoic demon, wary of any sudden movement on his part; she was kind-hearted, not stupid. As she drew up alongside him, she got her first good look at Rin.

The young woman was clutching a very large, very pregnant belly. Her lips were drawn in a line as she fought to hold back her cries of pain, and her face was damp, ashen in the weak winter sun.

"Kagome-san" she croaked, her voice scarce above a whisper, "I need somewhere to have my baby."

Then her features contorted in a grimace as she let out a thin, quivering whine. She was obviously in a great deal of pain, and Kagome's heart went out to the girl. Then, Sesshomaru turned abruptly on his heel, nearly sending Kagome into cardiac arrest, and walked briskly to her side. He bent forward, allowing Rin to slip her slender arms around his neck. Straitening, he wrapped his good arm beneath her. He tuned to Kagome with expectation, but the reality of the situation had just barely registered in her mind.

_'She's pregnant_,' Kagome thought astounded, and then as the gears slowly started clicking forward in her mind, _'Oh my God, it's **his**._'

"Miko!" Sesshomaru barked impatiently, interrupting her train of thought. Rin clutched his outer kimono in a vice grip, her face buried in the crook of his neck.

"Oh...ah...right! Follow me," she managed to stutter. Turning, she saw Inuyasha sporting a mirror image of her earlier expression.

"Inuyasha," she called to him, "take the children to Sango and Miroku. Tell Sango I'll need her help."

Inuyasha blinked rapidly.

"Sure thing Kagome," he said absentmindedly, his eyes not leaving the couple behind her until he turned to enter the hut.

Sesshomaru followed her silently, the only noise coming from Rin as she whimpered into his throat. Kagome held the bamboo covering open as Sesshomaru stooped to enter the hut, unable to stop the rolling knot that formed in her stomach.

_'Sesshomaru is in my house_,' she bemoaned, _'could this day get any worse? Or stranger?'_

Kia and Dachi stood saucer-eyed next to their father, until Inuyasha herded them out, skirting his brother on the way to the door. Kaede had the presence of mind to pull out an old futon that Kagome kept packed away in case of guests, while Kagome gathered all of the spare linen she could find.

"Just set her on the futon," Kagome said, motioning to the moth-worn mattress Kaede had just finished setting out. Sesshomaru complied, wrinkling his deceptively delicate nose, though still silent since his prior outburst. Rin moaned loudly as he set her down, and immediately rose to a kneeling position, curling over her abdomen and clutching it like a protective mother hen. Sesshomaru knelt beside her, rubbing small circles on her lower back. He actually seemed at a loss for what to do.

"Rin-chan?" he murmured quietly. She looked up at him with glassy eyes and leaned into his shoulder.

"Ughn," she grunted intelligibly in response, "hurts."

"Hn," he replied, still rubbing her back, "these women will help you."

Kagome took in the scene with mild shock. 'Rin-_chan?_ Since when did he call her that?'

"Sesshomaru," Kagome said sweetly, kneeling to their level, "I need to examine Rin now. It may be better if you left. This is women's business." Kagome attempted her stern mother face, but only succeeded in earning a scowl from the dog.

"No," Rin cried, clutching his empty sleeve, "don't leave me here _alone_, Sesshomaru!"

As he stared at the young woman clinging to his kimono as though he were her only link to this world, something passed across Sesshomaru's eyes that Kagome had never witnessed on his countenance before. She dared not examine it, lest she redefine everything she had previously thought about this yokai.

"I will be just outside," he assured the girl in a soft voice, raising his hand to stroke her cheek with his claw, "I will only be in the way here, but I will be close if you need me."

Something passed quietly between them in that moment, and Rin nodded her assent. Sesshomaru rose, turning towards the door as Kagome prepared to examine Rin. Halfway through the threshold, he turned to fix glare on Kagome and Kaede that caused both mikos to cease all action.

"If anything happens to her," he stated, his tone chill as ice, "your lives are forfeit."

And with that, he exited. For a brief moment, the two mikos were stunned motionless.

"Don't take him too seriously," Rin said with a breathy, exhausted laugh, "He always overreacts when he's worried."

Kagome turned to Rin, somewhat perturbed by her nonchalance.

'_Overreact?_' She thought as her fear and the rolling knot in her belly joined forces to create an unholy union of indignation and mild hysteria, _'Let's hope he doesn't 'overreact' and flatten the village!_'

Higurashi Kagome felt her eye _twitch._

00000

As Inuyasha drew further away from the disquieting scenario behind him, a cold anger began to form in his chest.

_'That good for nothing, hypocritical son-of-a-bitch_,' Inuyasha thought darkly, as he led his son and daughter through the thin layer of packed ice and snow. 'After all the goddamn shit he gave me all these years, he went and sired a hanyou on his human bitch, of all the fucking nerve!'

"Who was that, dad?" his son piped up from behind him. His ears were pinned flat to his skull, while his sister stared at their father with round, golden eyes. She clung to her brother's hand as their feet _crunch crunched_, and remained silent, too young and unsure to understand the events that had just unfolded.

"Your uncle...and _aunt_, apparently" Inuyasha replied, unable to contain the growl from creeping into his response.

"Oh," Dachi half whispered. He vaguely remembered the woman. He recognized her scent more than her appearance. She had stayed briefly with them a few years ago. He never met his uncle before, but remembered stories of his grandfather's tomb, a dark hanyou and a sword that could not cut.

"Why is he here now?" the boy wheedled, curious as to why his estranged uncle would show up after all this time.

"The girl is going to have a baby," Inuyasha replied, the anger dissipating as he furthered himself from Sesshomaru's aura.

00000

The sun had reached its zenith as the cozy hut of Miroku and Sango came into view. They had built their home near the edge of the forest, only a quarter mile from Inuyasha and Kagome; it was better situated to protect the village against troublesome yokai. Their brood had grown considerably in the past six years of their marriage. Inuyasha often had trouble remembering all of their daughters' names, but there would be plenty of company for Dachi and Kia here, and he could spend the night watching the children with Miroku while Sango helped Kagome and Kaede-baba with Rin. Anything would be preferable to Sesshomaru's presence, even babysitting. 

Inuyasha rapped twice on the sturdy doorframe before pushing back the bamboo covering and ducking inside. Seven pairs of eyes immediately alighted on him.

"Uncle Inuyasha!" chorused Miroku's five daughters as they clamored for purchase around his legs. Sango greeted him with a gentle smile.

"What brings you by, Inuyasha?" she inquired, while Miroku snickered at his hanyou friend's exasperation over the assault on his person.

"Oi, Sango. Kagome needs you," he replied as he pried a pair of small hands from his ears.

"Kagome?" she inquired, "Is something wrong? Does someone in the village need help?"

Inuyasha's face contorted into a dark scowl.

"My brother is there."

"Sesshomaru," Miroku replied skeptically, "What is he doing here, and why aren't you there with her?" It was not like Inuyasha to abandon Kagome to an enemy, least of all his dubious half-brother.

"It's nothing like that," he said, turning to his children, "Dachi, Kia, go play with you cousins, eh?" He then turned his attention back on Sango's worried face, "Rin is with him. She's in labor, and Kagome needs your help with the birth"

Shock registered on Sango's face for only a moment, "Of course! I'll go right now...Kiara, come!" 

The small fire cat bounded from her warm den of blankets, bristling at the sudden intrusion upon her afternoon nap, and followed her mistress outside. Miroku and Inuyasha watched from the doorway as Kiara transformed, so she would be able to bear Sango quickly to Inuyasha and Kagome's hut. Miroku watched her fly off with a quiet expression, his gaze shifting to Inuyasha when she became a speck against the grey winter sky.

"Is it his," he queried.

"Sure as hell _smelled_ like it was his," Inuyasha spat, his ire returning, "I just can't believe it, you know? Fucking bullshit."

Miroku nodded sagely, "Indeed, but Kagome always said that your brother had a soft spot for the girl. Remember when he brought her here for that week a few years ago? He agreed to all the terms you set for her staying here. He left the village and didn't return for a week, but he still returned for her."

"Yea, I remember," Inuyasha muttered glumly, "he skulked around _my_ forest the whole time, driving me crazy by staying just outside my senses. I damn well near walked in there and blasted his fucking head off. If I didn't know that it would piss Kagome off something awful, I would've."

"Da-ad," Dachi interrupted with a scowl that could match his father, "I'm bored, and the girls don't want to do anything but play with each other's hair." He puffed his cheeks and crossed his eyes, as if that expression were his only means to properly describe his level of distaste with the situation.

Inuyasha smiled cheekily at his eldest, ruffling his silver bangs.

"Aw, don't worry about it kid," he laughed, "Why don't ya' sit with me and your Uncle Miroku, eh? Shippo should be here later on."

"Yeah?" the boy's mood immediately improved as he thought of all the neat tricks his friend Shippo would show him, and then, of all the neat tricks they could play on the girls.

00000

Sesshomaru could count, on his _one_ good hand, the number of times that the swirling knot of fear had settled in his gut. 

The first time, he had visited Bokusenou after his father's battle with Ryuukotsusei, and subsequent battle with the human Takenmaru. As he saw the Sword hanging from the boughs of the old demon tree, he knew. His father was _dead_, the enemies of his father would be coming for _him_ now, and all he was left, as the fear and grief swiftly rushed from his chest to be replaced with outright fury, was Tenseiga, a _healing _sword. That memory alone was enough to send him into a howling rage.

The second time was two centuries later, when he first confronted his half brother's demon form. It was after he sought council from Bokusenou on the matter, that he realized why his father divided the swords as he did. The Inu No Taisho had faith in the burgeoning abilities of his eldest, and left him a sword that would ensure his survival into adulthood. While Inuyasha, though powerful for a half-demon, would need a sword to both protect him from more powerful enemies and seal his strong demon blood. It took the final battle with Naraku, and the maturation of his own sword's abilities, before he came to terms with this epiphany. He never again coveted his brother's sword, gaining a new respect for his own katana.

The third and final time, was this day, as Rin lay several yards away in a stinking human hovel, moaning and crying out in agony. Every piercing shriek sent a fine, involuntary tremor through his body, the realization dawning on him that he would not be able to save her again. Tenseiga's abilities could only be called upon once, and should he lose her, she would be lost to him _forever_. He would never see her again, never hear her musical laughter, never see that smiling face, not even if he were to join her in death. Where she would go in the next life, he could not follow.

'_Youkai and humans are simply different from one another_,' he thought darkly, the weight of the moment finally settling in, a thread of guilt winding around his heart and tightening painfully. 

'_I should have left her to her own people_.' 

However, he knew in his heart she would never be happy among humans. She had feared them since the slaughter of her family and her ill treatment by the villagers afterwards. She claimed that she never wanted to return to them.

"I have only ever felt at peace among you, Master Jaken and Ah Un," she admitted to him once, "I could never live among humans again. They will despise me because they fear your kind, and they will know that I have been raised by a yokai. Please, don't make me go, Sesshomaru-sama!"

Her russet eyes sparkled with tears, her face pleading. It had only been a suggestion. He was worried for her state of mind, for her future...and his own...but he could never deny her. Not _his_ Rin.

"Do as you wish," he had told her.

And so she did as she wished, and he did as he wished, and then _they_ did as _they_ wished and _ARG_, if the imp didn't stop that incessant pacing soon, he was going to strangle him!

"Jaken!" Sesshomaru snapped, "Go tend Ah Un."

Jaken halted mid-step in his well-worn snow burrow to stare bug-eyed at his master. Sesshomaru's dispassionate expression barely masked his agitation.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru!" he exhaled, rushing over to the twain-headed dragon and leading him away. Jaken had no desire to be caught in the Great Yokai's budding wrath.

With Jaken gone, Sesshomaru closed his eyes and did his best to block out the sounds and smells of the small hut across the clearing. He concentrated on the creaking skeletal boughs of the old oak he sat under, but found it far too annoying. Turning his attention northward, he heard the distant cawing of carrion birds, but decided that was probably the last image he wished to meditate upon. With a mental sigh, he chose to do something that he, in his long life, never thought he would do. He prayed: to every ancestor, every Kami, every major and minor deity that he thought would listen. 

_'Just let them be well_,' he cried out in his mind. _'Just let this child be healthy_,' he added as the disturbing image of his cousin floated to the forefront of his consciousness.

As the sun crept towards the horizon, Sesshomaru gradually became aware of the silence that descended upon the little hut. Rin's cries had subsided, and all he could hear within was the quiet shuffling of the women inside. Something in his chest clenched painfully as the seconds ticked by and the bamboo flap remained motionless.

Standing from his vigil beneath the oak, Sesshomaru prepared himself to enter the hut, and greet whatever vision awaited him. However, before he could take a step forward, the door covering rustled and the young miko emerged, flanked by her tajiya friend. The girls' faces were drawn, exhausted, and serious. Disturbingly serious. Nothing about this situation put Sesshomaru at ease.

His eyes never left the miko. She approached him with a downcast, apprehensive expression, her sight fixed to the bundle she carried. Sesshomaru's nose twitched, and he could faintly make out the fresh, clean scent of a newborn. Every fiber in his being trembled with uncharacteristic anxiety. He could detect no sickness, no distress from the pup, but it was far too _still_. As the miko finally came to stand before him, her gaze met his. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears.

'_No_,' he thought distantly.

"Rin?" he queried, almost afraid to ask.

"She is well," Kagome replied, "She lost a lot of blood, but she will pull through with bed rest. However, the child..."

Sesshomaru's eyes were immediately drawn to the blanket in her arms.

"I-I'm sorry, Sesshomaru." the young woman stuttered, "He didn't make it."

Sesshomaru blinked several times, unable to put his thoughts in a comprehensible order.

"It's probably better this way," the tajiya interjected, "He was...quite deformed"

Sesshomaru immediately fixed her with a hard glare, and then returned his attention to the bundle in Kagome's possession. He lifted a shaking hand and drew back the blankets, unsure of what he would have to look upon as his offspring. The sight that greeted him was not the horror that he had witnessed in Hotaru. What he found beneath the soft wool was his own visage, in his True Form. A downy, white puppy, the mark of the crescent moon a fuzzy violet patch on his forehead. As he laid a gentle claw against his newborn son's muzzle, his gaze softened. He traced the soft pink stripe below the boy's closed eyes with a tenderness he never knew he possessed.

_'His youki must be very strong_,' Sesshomaru thought with no small amount of pride, _'for none of his human features to show through. I can barely detect the human blood in him_.'

"He is perfect," Sesshomaru muttered hoarsely, almost below Kagome's hearing. She could feel Sango stiffen behind her. 

"Why is he dead? I detect no sickness in him." The look on Sesshomaru's face in that moment nearly broke Kagome's heart, but his accusatory tone filled her with an awful sense of dread.

"The umbilical cord was wrapped around his throat." she tried to explain, hoping that Sesshomaru would understand the complications and not place undue blame upon her, Sango or Kaede, "He was strangled. It was all we could do to see Rin through the labor."

_'Strangled in the womb_.' Sesshomaru thought fiercely, _'No son of mine will meet such a fate_!'

His face hardened, a vicious look passed over him as he set his attention back on Kagome.

"Put him down," he ordered, dropping his hand from the infant's face. Kagome hesitated, doubting Sesshomaru had any form of good intention in mind, and wished, not for the first time since his brother alighted on their property, that Inuyasha had decided to stick around.

"Put Him Down," Sesshomaru bellowed, his tone brooking no argument. Kagome swallowed hard, and placed the pup at his feet, stumbling gracelessly back several paces. She could sense Sango behind her, preparing to strike, no matter how futile such an action may be.

Sesshomaru's attention remained on his son as he reached for his sword. Tenseiga pulsed with its master's intent. As his grip tightened on the Fang of Heaven, Sesshomaru's eyes went hazy, clouding over to pierce the veil between worlds. It was only moments before they appeared, the gnarled messengers of the underworld.

_Do you think you are a god, or something?_ His mother's taunting tenor reverberated in his soul.

'_No_,' he replied to her, _'I have someone to protect_.'

With a grim determination and one firm stroke, the messengers were destroyed, reduced to snarling ash. 

Kagome watched Sesshomaru sheath Tenseiga with a loud click. She knew he cut at _something_, even if it did appear that he simply passed his sword through thin air. Then there was a soft whine from the bundle at his feet, and a wet, pink nose wormed its way towards Sesshomaru's boot. The pup whimpered softly, protesting his position on the cold ground.

The young miko could not contain a soft gasp. Kagome heard the loud crunch of snow as Sango collapsed to her knees, her relief palpable.

Sesshomaru paid them no mind. He stooped down to retrieve his newborn son from the ground, nestling him in the crook of his right arm. Turning his attention to a stunned pair of women, he grunted noncommittally, his expression regaining its former apathy.

Then, without indication that he had just defied the strings of fate, his voice broke the uneasy silence.

"Take me to Rin."


	4. Zatoichi

**Disclaimer**: I do not own _Inuyasha_ or any of its characters…dear GOD I would be so wealthy if I did! Any plot bunnies you see murdered here are of my own sad creation. _Rumiko Takahashi_ has nothing to do with this strange apparition of words.

**Author's Note:** I realize that this is taking me forever and an eternity to write. I can only ask that you bear with me. I have a great deal of freelance work to take care of, and a _doujinshi_ that I am currently reworking, and another that I am currently writing. If you can't get enough of _Ever After_, visit my Deviant Art site (there is a link in my journal). I have plenty of S x R, Sesshomaru and Ever After art in there. Go on, oggle. I am a far better artist than I am writer, which is why I do _that_ professionally.

That said, I would really appreciate if everyone could keep his or her comments constructive. A thousand "update soon" messages glutting my e-mail is rather depressing, because it is nearly impossible for me to "update soon." I really appreciate a good critique; it can only help my writing.

Well, I hope you all are enjoying this story so far. I'm having a blast writing it (in my sparse free time).

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Upon entering his hut, Inuyasha nearly turned around and walked right back out. The look on Kagome's face suggested that, if she had not removed his subduing beads nine years prior, he would presently be occupying a crater so deep, it might as well be on the other side of the world. A cursory glance to the dark corner of his hut confirmed what he smelled upon his approach, Sesshomaru was still in his home.

His brother was silent, his eyes closed. In the firelight, his crimson eyelids could be confused for the visage of an enraged demon, but his face was bereft of anger, or any emotion for that matter. Inuyasha knew he wasn't asleep. Sesshomaru would never feel comfortable enough in a human dwelling to do such a thing. No, Sesshomaru was ignoring them, effectively shutting out his surroundings in contemplation. Inuyasha felt his hackles rise at that realization.

'_That bastard isn't going to ignore me in my own house,_' he sneered.

However, before he could open his mouth, Sesshomaru roused from his musings, casting upon Inuyasha the most aggravated expression the hanyou had ever witnessed. Sesshomaru flicked his eyes towards a sleeping Rin before turning his ire back on his brother.

Inuyasha was at a loss. His brother was a prick, for sure, but the hanyou had no qualms with the girl. Rin's face was drawn, her breathing steady, but shallow. She had obviously been through an ordeal. Next to her, Sesshomaru's sizable pelt was rolled into a nest, and Inuyasha realized that the puff of fur in the center was far too white to be a part of it. In fact, it was breathing, and, to the hanyou's knowledge, that thing his brother carried around like a security blanket wasn't alive.

Inuyasha approached the trio on silent feet, passing Kagome and Kaede in the far corner, aware that Sesshomaru was watching his every move. He was a few feet away when he stopped and lowered to his haunches. He glanced towards his brother; surprised that Sesshomaru hadn't hindered his advancement. Sesshomaru's posture was relaxed, his remaining arm draped leisurely over a raised knee, but his eyes were sharp, cold even in the warm glow of the hearth. Inuyasha had the sudden feeling that he was a rabbit beneath the gaze of a hawk.

His brother showed no signs that he would disrupt this inspection, though his gaze was wary, distrustful. Inuyasha turned his attention back towards the pup. From this distance he could define the fuzzy snout, and pale markings. The boy's eyes were still closed, and he appeared to be sleeping as soundly as his mother. His head was turned and tucked into his belly while his hind legs lay against his crown, he reminded Inuyasha of a large, furry pill bug.

'_Sango wasn't kidding_,' he realized, somewhat startled, '_the kid really **is** a dog_.' Inuyasha had attributed the tajiya's initial report of Sesshomaru's offspring as an exaggeration. Sesshomaru had an awful effect on people, and Inuyasha wouldn't blame his friend for being too stressed out to get the details strait. Though, here he was, standing no more than three feet from a tiny hanyou puppy that could have just as easily been a full yokai from the smell of him. Inuyasha wondered, idly, if this is what his brother looked like as a pup.

Inuyasha was grateful that he decided to leave his children at Miroku and Sango's house. While Dachi was old enough to realize the situation, Kia's youth and natural exuberance would probably make Sesshomaru uneasy, and _definitely_ wake up Rin. While Inuyasha didn't particularly care for his brother's needs and concerns, he realized that Sesshomaru had come here out of earnest. No doubt, if the dog thought he could take care of the situation without Inuyasha's help, he would have. So, during a moment of rare foresight, most likely brought on by the maturity of fatherhood, Inuyasha realized that the last thing his brother and sister-in-law needed were a couple of young pups underfoot, and left his two children to the patient care of his close friends. Now that he was here, and could sense the nervous energy radiating from Sesshomaru, no doubt caused by his son's death and Rin's precarious condition, he could not help but feel somewhat sympathetic to his brother.

A loud sniffing drew Inuyasha's attention, as the pup unrolled himself, and pointed his nose in Inuyasha's direction. The boy took a long whiff before woofing softly. Sesshomaru, much to Inuyasha's surprise, answered the boy with a growl so low, he knew the women couldn't hear it. While it vibrated the floorboards beneath his feet, it was not an angry sound. Quite the opposite, there was a vague nuance that was strangely comforting and something in the back of Inuyasha's mind tickled with recognition.

Family. 

The pup flicked a floppy ear in the direction of his father and, sniffing at Inuyasha intently, mimicked the sound perfectly.

'_Family,_' Inuyasha thought dazedly, '_did Sesshomaru just acknowledge me as kin in front of his pup?_'

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It had to be a nightmare.

That was the only explanation, since the last time she was in this foul basement, clasped tightly in the arm of the witch, was when she was very, _very_ young. Rin watched through the camouflage of her eyelashes and fringe of bangs as piles upon piles of yokai and yokai parts gathered and wound around one another in a horrific dance. Through a concussion haze, she could barely make out the oily voice that directed Kagura amidst the reverberating sound of squelching limbs and bodies forming and reforming in the echoing room. She felt the arm around her tighten, in some sort of unconscious maternal worry.

"Take her to Kohaku," the oily voice commanded. Rin felt the world tip perilously as the witch bowed and cast her feather skyward, whisking Rin with her through a torn out hole in the roof.

She remembered looking down through the swirling yokai wind and dense miasma and seeing his face. The yokai gazed at her with knowing, scarlet eyes set in a beautiful face, and smiled a smile so full of dark, unadulterated cruelty it made Rin's blood run cold with fear.

_Naraku_ his deceptively smooth voice echoed in her mind, an answer to an unasked question.

She shuddered. As she rose above the dark castle, clutched protectively against Kagura's ribcage, her heart cried a silent prayer.

_Sesshomaru-sama, please come for me. Do not forget Rin!_

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Opening her eyes with a start, Rin was instantly relieved that she was looking at the thatching of Kagome's humble roof. She rested a relieved hand over her hammering heart and let out a long sigh. Her body felt heavy and she was deathly hot beneath the small mountain of blankets that had been placed over her. Rin attempted to push down some of them, but found that exerting her abdominal muscles was a bad idea, as she felt the gush of warm liquid between her legs. She became immediately aware of her aching…_everything_. Rin could not remember a time that she felt so uncomfortable and weak.

'_Ugh_,' she thought with a bit of disgust, '_I had almost forgotten_.'

Rin wrinkled her nose and glanced around furtively, only to find that she was alone. Outside, a quite flurry of snow was visible through the oiled paper windows. It was daytime, which would explain why everyone was out, most likely going about their chores…or whatever it was that people did in villages. She _did_ wonder where Sesshomaru had gotten off to; it was unlike him to leave her alone, especially considering her delicate condition.

'_With how he hovered over me, you would think he would be here now!'_ she thought angrily. She felt sticky and dirty and ridiculously thirsty and _damn it!_ Where was he?

A quiet whine from her side roused her from the wash of anger. Rin glanced to Sesshomaru's pelt wound in a nest next to her, unable to stifle her gasp. A small puppy, bearing the markings of her husband, was attempting to wiggle towards her, his protests at their distance growing louder by the second. For a moment, Rin could only stare mutely at him. She had lost consciousness towards the end, and was unable to hold him when he was first born. All she could remember, through the fog of pain, was Kaede and Kagome's urges for her to push.

The puppy was quite eager to be with her now that she was awake, and he was nearing the edge of his bedding. Rin smiled fondly at him, his golden eyes fixed happily on her, and reached over to pull him into her lap, shocked by his size. He had to be at least nine pounds. She cradled him in her arm, as she would a human child. The boy immediately stilled in his mother's embrace. Resting his head against her chest, he sniffed contently at her throat and gave her an affectionate lick. Rin giggle quietly and buried her face in his downy fur.

"Aren't you an excitable little creature," she teased him good-naturedly. Pulling him away from her neck and settling him in her lap, she gently tickled his round belly, a half smile pulling at her lips as he yipped playfully.

"It is nice to finally meet you, my son." She told him quietly. The pup's eyes became large and solemn at the tone of her voice. He blinked and yawned, revealing the gleam of tiny milk teeth. Exhausted with his afternoon's activities, he turned to bury his nose in the folds of her kimono.

"_Hey_, what are you…_oh_," Rin's face became immediately red as he began to suckle. She gawked down as the boy sucked greedily at her breast, and felt the blush creep onto her chest.

'_God, I hope I'm doing this right, though he doesn't seem to be complaining_.' Rin leaned back against her pillows, growing used to the strange sensation of her son nursing, and closed her eyes as a wash of weariness came over her.

'_I must still be weak from the birth,'_ she surmised, '_It must have taken a lot more out of me than I thought._'

Rin was far from out of shape. Constant traveling and Sesshomaru's training saw to that. So, aversion to her current weakness was understandable. With the occasional rescue, on the part of Sesshomaru, when a hungry demon beyond her strength tried to take hold of her, Rin had grown accustomed to taking care of herself. Though such occurrences had become more and more rare as she grew older. Thanks to her guardian's patient, if not arduous tutelage, she was able to handle a sword better than any samurai and was proficient in several hand-to-hand fighting styles. No mere human could stand against her, of _that_ she was certain. Rin practiced her _katas_ often, and, due to Sesshomaru's concerned protests, only ceased the more strenuous aspects of her workout when she was nearing her second trimester.

She had carried their first child without any major incident, until she went into early labor. It had hit her so suddenly, that she initially blamed her pains on her treacherous back, which had been bothering her more often as her stomach swelled to proportions she never thought possible. Only when her water broke, and a white-hot blade of agony shot through her, did she realize that her child was ready to be born. At first, she attempted to handle the situation on her own, insisting to Sesshomaru that a drastic measure, such as traveling to his brother's town, was totally unnecessary. She knew that he would have to humble himself in front of Inuyasha, and she was worried that her hanyou brother-in-law would send her husband away, as he did when she went to learn from Kagome two years prior. She couldn't bear it if he were forced to wait on the edge of Inuyasha's forest while she brought their firstborn into the world.

As it was, Kagome had asked him to leave for the birth. As Rin switched her son to her other breast, she wondered if Sesshomaru had even gotten to see their son, or if he was still required to keep a respectable distance from his brother's hut. The thought brought a prick of tears to the edge of her vision, and she allowed herself a quiet sniff. She had grown to like Kagome and her gruff husband during her stay all those years ago, but she could never understand their distain for Sesshomaru.

Then again, she had never, personally, borne the brunt of his fury.

It never ceased to amaze her that a powerful, noble, _ancient_ creature, by his admittance he was over three centuries old, could act like such a selfish child when in the presence of his only sibling. Especially since Rin would have given anything to see _her_ brother again. She knew that Sesshomaru's disdain for Inuyasha was due to more than his half-human heritage. Sesshomaru's own son now shared that same "impurity" in his blood, and her husband had, by his own declaration, assured her that any child she bore him would make him proud. Rin never could guess what it was exactly, but she was fairly certain it had something to do with the former _Inu No Taisho_. To what extent, she wouldn't dare to wonder, but she was aware that Sesshomaru was once very close to his father. No doubt, he suffered greatly upon his sire's demise, though he would loath to admit such a thing.

However, Rin could tell, he was a different yokai from the brash young demon she had met in her childhood, after he was injured when attempting to siege his brother's katana. Sesshomaru's distain for Inuyasha had grown from insecurities with his own power. Now that his true strength had been realized, his confidence in his own inheritance established, Sesshomaru was much less prone to inexplicable violence. Rin knew that her presence had something to do with his gradual mellowing, since he never unnecessarily slew a human while in her presence, though Jaken had told her that he once engaged in such activities often. Of course, that did not change the fact that bad blood still existed between the brothers, and it would be a long time before the two gathered in peace.

Rin was hopeful, but she was also realistic. She just prayed that the two, stubborn dogs were not currently locked in combat.

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In Sesshomaru's _rarely_ humble opinion, there was nothing more satisfying than the sound of steel clashing against steel. Especially when it was his brother's sword that he strove against. Inuyasha may be an idiot, he may be a simpleton, he may handle a sword like a senile old woman, he may revile everything that Sesshomaru had worked his whole life to become, but _damn_, was he fun to rile up. A few, well-placed insults, usually directed to the hanyou's human mother or insufficient fighting prowess, and Sesshomaru was guaranteed an instant, stress relieving fight with a snarling, red-faced hanyou. At this moment, that was exactly what Sesshomaru needed. Rin had been sleeping for the past two days, leaving Sesshomaru to watch, with barely masked disgust, as Inuyasha's wife fed his firstborn son goat's milk from a bladder.

Sesshomaru had done his best to allow his son to become familiar with Rin's scent, leaving him upon _moko-moko _next to her bed would allow the boy to associate Rin with his own scent. He contained a quiet glee when the pup was loath to sit with Kagome and allow her to feed him, but Sesshomaru was unable to perform the task, which made the miko's interference necessary. He was not so proud as to allow his son to starve.

He glanced irritably at his missing limb, and favored Inuyasha with a particularly powerful strike that sent the hanyou back several meters and into a sturdy tree.

As tufts of snow rained down upon his brother, Sesshomaru hoped that Rin would wake up soon. He was not sure how much longer he could stand to watch the miko handle his son, and undoubtedly the boy would benefit to feed off of his mother's milk. The goat's milk was barely sustaining him, and Sesshomaru didn't want the boy to begin loosing weight. He was even less sure that he would be nearly as forgiving if Inuyasha's offspring dare to poke at the boy with ill suppressed dismay again.

Sesshomaru was nearly short one niece this morning.

_Kai stared outright at the sleeping puppy. She rubbed her still weary eyes and gawked again, then looked up at her father._

"_Papa," she wheedled in a hushed tone, having been warned to be silent by her mother, "how'd that lady get a puppy? Where's her baby?"_

_Inuyasha swallowed audibly, glancing quickly towards his brother. Sesshomaru couldn't help it. The rage began as a hollow fire in his belly, but quickly built in volume as the girl's natural inquisitiveness took free reign over her mouth._

"_Didn't she come here to have a baby? That's what you said when you took us to Aunt Sango."_

"_This _is_ her baby, Kia," Inuyasha attempted to explain as he crouched beside her. Dachi remained quiet, silently holding his mother's hand as he also attempted to comprehend the probability of such an occurrence. Kia merely sighed and shook her head, as if such an explanation were so unlikely that it had to be false. She leaned forward as if to prod at her cousin, who stared at her with wide, golden eyes, unfocused and newly open. Sesshomaru could no longer contain his outrage._

_He growled at the girl, sharp and irritably, not even deigning to favor her with a voiced reprimand._

_Kia immediately snatched back her hand, as if burnt. Dachi clung tighter to his mother, his eyes alighting on his father as he stood, but did nothing more than glare at Sesshomaru while Kia dove behind the protective barrier of Inuyasha's legs. The pup whimpered and curled into himself, instinctually attempting to protect himself from whatever enemy his father had snarled at. Rin slept on, oblivious_

_The two brothers exchanged a glance that could only be described as meaningful._

"_Okay," Inuyasha sighed, turning towards his pale wife and son while he stooped to lift his daughter into his arms, "that's enough introductions. Let's leave 'em be for a little while. You fed the kid, Kagome?"_

_Kagome nodded dumbly._

"_They should be fine then," Inuyasha said with authority as he led his family out of the hut, "Let's take Sango up on her offer for breakfast." With that, they were gone, and Sesshomaru was thankful for the reprieve._

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Jaken was roused from a light doze by a soft, melodic hum from within the hut.

Sesshomaru had left shortly prior, and set his trusty retainer and loyal steed to keep watch over his small family in his brief absence. Jaken puffed proudly at the task, honored beyond words by the trust his lord had set with him, and sat resolutely by the hut's entrance, the Staff of Skulls gripped tightly by his side. In truth, Jaken was glad that he was spared the shared inhabitance of the hut. Before Inuyasha had left with his family earlier, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife and serve it for dessert.

The little imp slaked off the vestiges of sleep, and peered through the doorway. He was rewarded with the sight of his mistress cradling her newborn son as he slept peacefully in her arms. A cold draft must have alerted her to his intrusion, because she glanced up towards him, her lullaby forgotten.

Attempting to shake his embarrassment, Jaken entered the small dwelling, bowing respectfully.

"I am glad to see you are awake, Rin-sama," he greeted her honestly. He had been quite worried the whole time she slept.

"Hello, Jaken," she replied warmly, favoring him with a kind smile, "Where is Sesshomaru?"

At this, the little imp became slightly flustered, "Ah he has gone to…er…_speak_ with his brother." Rin raised a dubious brow, but her smile spoke of mirth.

"Indeed," she said.

"I'm sure he will return shortly," Jaken assured her, though not really positive that would be the case. Sesshomaru had been uncommonly irritable during their brief stay in the village, no doubt due to the proximity and number of strange humans coupled with Rin's tumultuous labor.

'_Better Inuyasha than me,_' the imp thought with a shudder.

"Have you seen him yet?" Rin asked him, and Jaken realized that she was referring to the pup she gazed warmly at.

"Ah, not yet, Rin-sama," he replied with a bow. "May I?" he asked eagerly. He was curious to see the first-born son of his lord.

Rin nodded sweetly and motioned him over with her free hand. Jaken approached her on quaking legs. Sesshomaru had ordered him to remain outside and allow Rin to rest, but certainly it would be allowed if she had invited him…right?

Jaken's reservations were forgotten when he saw the white puppy in her arms. Why, the boy was the spitting image of his lord! Jaken's eyes watered with untamed emotion as he smiled.

"He is beautiful, Rin-sama," Jaken gushed in hushed awe, "the very image of his illustrious father!" Rin smiled proudly as she shifted her son to a more comfortable position.

"Rin," Sesshomaru's baritone broke the tender moment. Jaken turned with startled apprehension, and threw himself at Sesshomaru's feet.

"Forgive this lowly Jaken, Sesshomaru-sama," he supplicated, "Rin-sama was already awake!" Several tense seconds ticked by in silence, and Jaken risked a glance at Sesshomaru's demeanor. His attention was fixed on Rin and the pup in her arms, his stance far more relaxed than Jaken had seen him in days. The imp did not have to be told, he rose to his feet and beat a hasty retreat.

Sesshomaru padded quietly to his wife, and sat by her side. He was awash in relief. Rin had never been unconscious for such a long period of time, and he had grown fretful as she continued to sleep, his faith in the miko's abilities dwindling by the second.

"How do you feel?" he asked her tentatively as he reached out to tuck a few errant strands of hair behind her ear.

Rin leaned back into her pillows and sighed, "Irritable and sore." Sesshomaru's hand immediately stilled.

'_Shit_,' he cursed to himself. He had hoped that she would be in a more amiable mood upon her waking. He had truly missed her gentle demeanor.

Rin favored him with a gentle smile, amused by his disquiet, "but very, _very_ happy." Sesshomaru released a quiet breath as she turned her loving attention towards their son, who continued to sleep on peacefully.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" she inquired while fondling her son's soft ears.

'_A name?'_ Sesshomaru thought. In truth, he _had_ already named the boy. Not in any human tongue, but the pup responded to the gruff bark that he called him by. Of course, he would need a name that Rin could pronounce. Sesshomaru did not want to tell her that he hadn't considered names, on the off chance that the pup would be born severely deformed. They had already discussed that, if their child was beyond hope, it would be kinder to not let it suffer, and Sesshomaru, ever the realist, did not allow himself to anticipate. It would have been difficult enough to kill his own offspring, even worse if said offspring had a _name_.

However, that was not the case, and Sesshomaru had been so fearful about Rin, he hadn't given it any other thought.

"I though I would leave it up to you," he replied.

Rin graced him with a knowing smile, "Well, aren't you progressive." Sesshomaru snorted in amusement, the corner of his lips turning up ever so slightly to allow a fang to peek out. Rin turned her attention to their son, her face growing solemn.

"If its all the same to you, Sesshomaru," she stated quietly, "I would like to honor my older brother." Sesshomaru met her eyes as she raised them, and nodded seriously.

"Do as you like," he told her, "How shall we call him, then?"

"_Zatoichi_," Rin rejoined, it sounded like a prayer on her lips.

"Zatoichi," Sesshomaru repeated, laying a large hand over the pup's head.

"A fine name." He concluded.


	5. Familial

**AN:** Ah, so this is done. _**Constructive Criticism**_ appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi

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_Chapter 5- Familial_

The atmosphere was oppressive, humid, hot, and every breath seemed to consist of more moisture than air. Rin drew her sleeve across her brow with a weary exhale as Ah Un lumbered beneath her. Even the dragon, normally jubilant for warm weather, seemed putout by the temperature today. Zatoichi, now five years old, was a furry heap in her lap, his pink tongue lolling as he panted heavily, his legs draped lazily over the sides of Ah Un. He really was getting a little too big to be traveling this way. Sesshomaru walked steadily ahead of them, seemingly unaffected by the sun. Rin hoped that Jaken, sent ahead to find a source of water, would return shortly with good news. The whole season had been uncommonly dry and hot, and many of the small streams that were plentiful on their travels had become muddy rivulets, undrinkable, warm and hardly a source of relief.

Rin drew a gentle hand through her son's rumpled fur, quietly marveling at how he had grown in the past five seasons. He was nearly eighty pounds, the size of a common _Akita-Inu_, and it seemed that he was not done growing by a long shot. Eyeing his thick coat, Rin could not imagine his discomfort. She, at least, was able to change into a light, cotton _yukata,_ but he was saddled with a thick layer of white fur. Zatoichi raised two, weary golden eyes towards his mother and whimpered quietly. He was grievously unhappy.

To say that Zatoichi was not a common child would have been the understatement of the century. Any daydreams Rin may have had about her firstborn were vastly different than what she was faced with. For all appearances, Zatoichi was a dog. He was the very image of Sesshomaru in his True Form. However, despite some instinctual responses to the stimuli around him, Zatoichi did posses human intelligence. While he was not able to speak, save for nights of the new moon, when his demon blood would recede and he would become human, he did communicate with his small family. He was especially expressive towards his father, who could understand the grunts and growls that his son made, and determine the boy's mood and wants by them. While the "dog language" he spoke was generally basic, and did not lend itself towards abstract expression, Zatoichi was able to understand human speech, and could speak quite well when he reverted to his human form once a month. Sesshomaru predicted that the boy would be quite strong when he was grown, and that was all that Rin could hope for. While Zatoichi would face all manner of obstacles because he was a _hanyou_, Rin was consoled by the fact that he would be able to protect himself. Overall, after dealing with the strangeness of a canine son, Rin was quite proud of Zatoichi. She loved him more deeply than she thought that she could ever love anything.

Rin laid her hand across her swelling stomach, and hoped that her second child would be as lucky as her first. Even now they traveled to the small, secluded cottage that she had stayed at during her prior pregnancy, and for sometime after Zatoichi's birth. It was located deep within an old forest, and the inhabitants there were mostly peaceable _kitsune_ and _tanuki_, so Rin had little to fear in the way of dangerous yokai. In fact, a kind old fox acted as Zatoichi's nursemaid for some time, relinquishing the position when Rin had fully healed from the birth, and was able to care for her son without help, though the fox did visit often. Zatoichi referred to the fox fondly as "nana" on his human nights, and she seemed to adopt an equal affection for the child in her care.

The old fox's twinkling onyx eyes and furry face popped into Rin's mind, and she hoped that Nana was still living in the burrow under the small hill nearby her home. It had been nearly three years since Rin had returned to the cottage. A tiny part of her hoped that Nana had made good on her promise those winters prior, and was tending to things there. Though, in truth, Rin would never expect such a thing from the elderly fox, even if the kitsune did swear allegiance to Sesshomaru and his small household.

Sesshomaru came to an abrupt halt, and Ah Un jostled its cargo as it followed suit. Rin ceased her musing to stare at the stiffened back of her husband. Sesshomaru's head tilted slightly, and Rin realized he was testing the air.

"Is something wrong, Sesshomaru?" she asked. Zatoichi's head came up, his nostrils flaring slightly. Sesshomaru turned his head towards her, and his eyes suggested that her silence might be prudent. Though it ruffled her, Rin tended to obey him under circumstances such as these. Normally, he had her best interests at heart, even if he could tend to be overprotective of her when she was pregnant.

There was a loud, unearthly braying from the road ahead, and Rin worried her lower lip between her teeth. Zatoichi squirmed in her lap, but Rin kept a firm hand between his shoulder blades, pinning him down. She did not want her overzealous son attacking an enemy beyond his strength, and whatever was approaching sounded like something Sesshomaru should deal with. Soon the ground was shaking, Zatoichi whined and growled, twisting under his mother's grip. It was all Rin could do to hold him down, one hand on his back and the other twisted into the ruff of his neck.

"Quiet, Zatoichi," Sesshomaru ordered in a tone that brooked no argument. Zatoichi immediately silenced and stilled, though his ears were pinned back, his lips curled into a snarl.

With a tumultuous roar, a great beast, at least twice as large as Sesshomaru in his current form, crested the hill in front of them with a single leap. The creature thrashed his massive head, topped with the curving horns of a bull, from side to side, huffing fire from his hideous snout. His eyes were small and red, set deep into his skull. His body was manlike, but rippled with thick muscle and sinew. His hoofed legs were as thick as Rin's body.

"Ha!" the creature spat, "So _this_ is the 'Great Lord Sesshomaru'?" The beast sorted then, a mixture between a laugh and a grunt. Little flames erupted from its nostrils.

Sesshomaru remained where he stood, and said nothing.

"I am the mighty Meiunoushi," roared the bull, "and I have come to challenge you, Weak Dog, for control of the West. No yokai that lays with a human is worthy of such a title."

Sesshomaru was silent.

"I will strip your meat from your bones and devour your tiny wife and ill-bred offspring," the Meiunoushi continued, obviously growing more vexed by his opponent's reticence. Still Sesshomaru did not move or speak. The bull grunted in irritation and growled low in his throat.

"You have nothing to say?" Meiunoushi said, "Are you resigned to your pitiful fate?"

"Are you finished?" Sesshomaru answered lazily as he curled his hand into a fist. His knuckles emitted a loud crack. Meiunoushi's mouth fell open only briefly, and then he sneered.

"Overconfident dog! I will crush you!"

Over the years, Rin had grown used to Sesshomaru's way of fighting. He expunged as little energy as possible on his opponents, and much of his technique was lent to psychological manipulation. As the bull howled with rage and pitched his massive body forward in a relentless charge, Rin could almost feel sorry for him. A creature so dim truly had no chance against Sesshomaru.

With a practiced twist and flick of his wrist, Sesshomaru released his whip upon the unsuspecting creature, neatly slicing him in twain down the center. Meiunoushi had less than a breath for a strangled, gurgling bellow before the halves fell apart from one another with a sickening squelch and resounding crash into the underbrush.

Rin looked on calmly as she released Zatoichi from the death grip she had developed on his ruff. He bounded from her lap, the heat forgotten, and trotted off to sniff at his father's kill. Sesshomaru calmly kept walking, and passed between the halved creature as he trekked onward. Zatoichi watched Ah Un move forward, then lifted his leg on the carcass.

"Zatoichi," Rin scolded, "don't do that!" The boy whined and ran to catch up to the group, passing by his mother and Ah Un to trot along next to his father, wagging his tail and growling softly. Sesshomaru patted his head absentmindedly.

In truth, Sesshomaru had wondered why it had taken so long to be challenged. He was unsure whether the lack of yokai opposition was a compliment or an insult. Though, the sad excuse that had just attempted to usurp him was definitely an insult. Perhaps his marriage had gone unchallenged because the yokai community did not see him as a threat. This seemed unlikely, especially considering his lineage and the part he played in destroying Naraku. No, the more likely answer was that he was greatly feared, and only brash, young upstarts had the foolish bravado to face him. Or, his enemies could be plotting behind his back while he was blissfully unaware. He would have to make a note to send Jaken eavesdropping when the imp returned.

'It would do no good to be caught unprepared,' Sesshomaru reasoned. He vaguely heard Rin scold their son, and the boy's subsequent protest. Zatoichi trotted up next to him, growling praise for a swift victory. Sesshomaru glanced askew at his young son, and reached down to pat his head affectionately.

'No, that would not do at all,' he thought and tested the wind. Rin's altered scent, deeper and warmer filled his nose, 'especially now.'

0000000000

They were only a few days from the cottage, and Rin decided that she had best procure a few larger kimonos for later in her pregnancy. With Zatoichi she had to send Jaken to fetch extra cloth to make a few new ones, but that had been in the dead of winter, and her new child would be born in autumn. Meanwhile, she would have to struggle through the rest of, what looked like, a hot summer. Rin always had trouble sewing lighter, thinner fabric. It, all too often, fell out of place, or her stitching was crooked, and with the addition of a playful, bouncing puppy, she doubted she presently had the time for such endeavors.

So, tilting her head and appropriating what she considered her most demure, little-wife voice, she asked Sesshomaru if they could stop in a village along the way.

"No," he replied.

Rin reigned in her anger, took a deep breath, and asked, "Why not?" tilting her head slightly to the side and batting her eyes in the way that suggested that she was very sweet, and how dare he deny her anything.

"No," he said, and fixed her with a look that suggested with equal strength that she was not nearly as sweet as she thought, and what he says goes.

Jaken, knowing all too well where this was most likely going, turned to a confused Zatoichi. Ruffling the boy's fur, he drew the pup's attention from the brewing argument towards some butterflies that begged for the excitable five year old to smash them good. To Jaken's relief, Zatoichi took the bait and bounded into the lush field, the imp breathed a silent sigh of relief and followed in the boy's destructive wake.

"I am going to need a new kimono, Sesshomaru," she said with the voice she reserved for scolding Zatoichi. Sesshomaru did not like that one bit.

"Then make one as you did when you were pregnant with Zatoichi," he said turning away.

"And where," she said, clutching at his empty sleeve so he could not dismiss her completely, "am I supposed to find the time to do that when I have a five year old to look after?"

"Jaken can watch him," Sesshomaru replied calmly.

"Like he used to watch me?" She had him there.

"What do you suggest, Rin?" Sesshomaru sighed. He was in no mood for her emotional outbursts. "Any village you enter large enough to have a seamstress will also have a monk or miko guarding it. Do believe that anyone with spiritual powers will not sense the yokai blood in the child you carry?"

Rin set her mouth in a determined line. She hated when he used that calculating logic against her.

"I'll take the risk," she said resolutely, straitening her spine and lifting her chin insubordinately. Sesshomaru turned towards her fully then.

"You'll take the risk?" Sesshomaru snapped, "Stubborn woman, do you want to get yourself killed?"

"Sesshomaru," Rin said, more shrilly than she would have liked, "I am hot and I am tired and I do not want to have to run between Zatoichi and Jaken every five seconds while stitching together a kimono. This one barely fits me now! Please, Sesshomaru, afford me some small comfort!"

"Some small comfort?" Sesshomaru said in a dangerously low voice, "Do I not make every concession for you? Even now we go to remain in that stifling house for the next few years until _you_ are ready to travel again."

"As we should," Rin said with equal heat, "it is _your_ child I carry. And don't act as if you are always there! How often did you drop me and Zatoichi off with Inuyasha so you could gallivant around the countryside"

"I was protecting my territory," Sesshomaru bellowed, "If I did not it would fall into ruin, overrun with scavenging yokai. Or shall I leave those mindless beasts to populate uncontrolled, destroying your precious human villages as they go?"

"They're not _my_ precious anything. Damn it, Sesshomaru! All I want is a new kimono!" Rin sniffed, suddenly miserable, "if I knew how much you regretted all this," she said, motioning towards herself, "I wouldn't have said anything." Her shoulders drooped as she succumbed to silent sobs.

Sesshomaru cursed his loose tongue. Only Rin could rile him thus.

Sesshomaru took her in his embrace, and bowed his head towards her ear, "I didn't mean it like that," he whispered, regaining a large measure of his former calm.

"Then what did you mean it like?" she murmured into moko-moko, attempting to calm her hiccupping.

"Rin…sometimes…" stupid words, "sometimes, I have regret, but not for what we have together. I…I worry…for you and our son, and this child to come. I regret that fear." Rin was quiet; her breath came in light puffs against Sesshomaru's stole.

"I know you do, " she said, "I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble."

Sesshomaru growled low and nuzzled her crown, "Don't say stupid things." Rin laughed and kissed his cheek.

"You're forgiven," she said cheerfully, and Sesshomaru scowled. He had lost that altercation somehow; he knew it. From their feet came a low whine. The pair looked down into the golden eyes of their son, seated at their feet. His tail had stilled and he looked between them apprehensively.

"We aren't fighting," Rin said reassuringly as she scratched his ear lightly. Zatoichi leaned into her touch, but kept his gaze on the two of them, suggesting that he was not so sure of that.

"So…" Rin started, glancing askew at her husband as she scratched her son's ear, "a new kimono?" Sesshomaru looked at the woman in his arms with no small measure of exasperation and determined, not for the first time, that fate had played a cruel, cruel joke on him.

"We will have to go several days out of our way," he sighed, releasing her and starting in a new direction.

"But," she argued, "there is a village along the way!"

"No," he replied, still walking, "if there is trouble, then that place is too close to our home. The last thing I need is an army of humans marching through my forest." He paused and turned towards his wife. "Do you want a new kimono or not?" he said, and continued forward.

Rin grumbled and slid on to Ah Un's saddle. Zatoichi bounded after his father's shadow. Jaken, half buried by his canine charge, pushed out from under the mound that Zatoichi had put him under and raced after the three.

"Lord Sesshomaru, " he panted, "wait for me-e-e!"

0000000000

The village was nestled comfortably in the hollow of several large hilltops. It looked innocuous enough in the mist of early dawn, but Sesshomaru knew, if there trouble arose, he would be afforded a better vantage point from higher ground. He would not follow Rin into the village. He could detect no strong spiritual power, so that would be uncalled for, and he preferred to avoid contact with human settlements as much as possible. The stench of so many humans and livestock in on place was irritable. Besides, his presence would cause unnecessary panic, and Rin would not acquire a new kimono if he were forced to destroy the place.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru!" Rin said happily as she gazed longingly at the little hamlet. Maybe she could pick up a few other necessities while she was there, like new water skeins or a few new blankets for the winter or even a toy for Zatoichi. It had been months since she was in a human village, not since Kagome had verified her latest pregnancy, and she rarely had time to go shopping, since Sesshomaru was usually quite eager to be out of his brother's territory. Now she was allowed to do just that, and Sesshomaru had deemed this place safe enough, so she would use this opportunity for all it was worth. Zatoichi seemed equally excited about this new place, with all of its new smells. His lower half wagged with his tail.

"You are not going," Sesshomaru informed his son. Zatoichi stared at his father, then longingly at the village, then at his father again with his most accomplished, watery "puppy dog eyes" possible. Sesshomaru would have none of that.

"Your mother made me immune to those long ago," he told the boy. Rin scowled at her husband.

"Oh, let him come along, Sesshomaru," she argued, "If you hide his markings, no one will be the wiser." Rin was feeling uncommonly excitable. "Besides," she continued, patting her son on the back, " he would be good protection. No mere mortal could harm our son." Zatoichi yipped in agreement.

"Conspirators," Sesshomaru groused. He stepped forward and touched Zatoichi's forehead. The boy's crescent moon and magenta stripes shimmered and winked out. To any untrained eye, he looked like an ordinary, white dog. "Be quick," he ordered them. Rin and Zatoichi bobbed their heads in unison.

As his human wife and hanyou son descended into the sleepy village, Sesshomaru wondered when he had gone so soft.


	6. The King of Beasts

Ring sat, stiff backed, before the low writing table in the main room of the house that Sesshomaru had restored all those year

_**AN:**__ I began writing this before Sesshomaru magically regenerated that missing limb. So, consider this a divergence from the original plot line after the end of the Meidou arc. He didn't have two arms in the previous chapters, and I intend to keep with that._

_Also...holy crap, I'm updating this? Yes, it's been a while (er, a year, almost), but I had never intended to end it at the previous chapter...there's still a bit more to tell in this story, but I can't assure you that I will update with any kind of regularity. The mood just struck me, suddenly, to continue on with this, so we'll see if it gets done, eh?_

**The King of Beasts**

Rin sat, stiff backed, before the low writing table in the main room of the house that Sesshomaru had restored all those years ago, when she had first become pregnant with his son. It was once a summer cottage in his father's estate; nestled in the heart of a deep forest and touched by the magic known to his people. No human, besides her, had walked the tall, stone stair that led to the modest pavilion. The house itself was not overly large, just big enough for her to see to it on her own, with assistance from Jaken and the elderly fox, Nana, of course. Before Sesshomaru settled here with her, his feet knew no home, and he was content with that, she knew. However, he had come to realize the strain it put upon her in her pregnancy, and after Zatoichi was born, it seemed like wisdom to remain until they could all travel. And travel they did, eventually, until she became pregnant again. Now, with two children at her feet, Rin hoped that they might remain here in a more permanent manner.

Her lamp was already beginning to burn low, though she didn't wish to cease her writing just yet. She was almost finished with the arduous task of translating Sesshomaru's scrawling characters into something that resembled a formal letter. Once this was Jaken's job, but her handwriting was far neater than the imp's; and soon after she became Sesshomaru's wife, she took up the position happily, proud to be given such an honored obligation. Now, though, as her flame flickered and her daughter began to stir, Rin actually considered giving this task back to her old caretaker.

Rin laid her brush down on its stand and bent to scoop up her tiny daughter from the basket she had set next to the table. Zatoichi was asleep in his room, no doubt dreaming of chasing through the vast forest on some merry hunt with his father. Sesshomaru and Jaken were out for the night, circling through the surrounding acres of wood, looking for something only they knew. The house creaked quietly as Rin positioned the newborn girl at her breast and relaxed her posture to nurse. Rin smiled softly at her daughter as she suckled contently, thinking the soft thoughts of those new to the world.

"Jun, Jun, Jun," Rin cooed softly. The girl flicked her fuzzy, pointed ears - set right where ears should be - and cracked open a lazy golden eye, watching her mother through droopy lids. Rin could feel the steady, thumping rhythm of Jun's tail against her outer thigh. Her face was all Rin, save her white hair, the crescent moon on her brow, and a stripe on each cheek, but her complexion was darker than Sesshomaru's, her eyes rounder and the gold of her irises more burnished than her father's.

While Rin had worried over Jun's birth, it was a more maternal worry than the outright dread she felt when she was pregnant with Zatoichi. One healthy child, obviously, set her mind at considerable ease. It helped that Jun did not suffer the harrowing rush into the world her brother had. There was nothing untoward about the birth, and Rin managed easily with Nana's help. Kagome arrive a few days later upon Sesshomaru's summons, along with a scowling Inuyasha, but her sister-in-law found everything as it should be. After a single night shared with their in-laws, Rin and Sesshomaru were left in peace to enjoy the new addition to the family.

Rin glanced idly at the last few lines that she had to copy, scrutinizing several characters that could very well be any number of words from the look of them.

"We have to teach your father to write neater," she cooed at Jun, as the girl's eyes drooped closed and her head lulled in sleep. "One hand or no," she said, leaning in to kiss her daughter's brow, "he shouldn't be so sloppy about it."

If this letter had any other destination than what it was given, she would have stamped Sesshomaru's copy, sealed it and sent it on it's way. How such a silent man could ramble on so in writing was beyond her. However, this summons was marked for her Lord's honored mother, and Rin would not see Sesshomaru's messy characters arrive at that illustrious castle in the sky. It did occur to her that her mother-in-law might already be well aware of her son's poor handwriting, but there was no reason, in Rin's mind, that she should neglect her duty as his wife; to see that the affairs of the household run smoothly, however small that household may be. She had not seen the Lady of the West since she had been revived from hell as a child, and she didn't want Sesshomaru's mother thinking on her as some lazy human whelp that took advantage of her son's good graces.

By the time she had finished, seen the missive off to its tanuki carrier, and retired to bed, the sky was already lightening. Rin pulled the drapes over the screen and the covers over her head. In a weary part of her brain, she hoped that Zatoichi would sleep in today; she prayed for it with all her heart. Jun was quiet, her task was done, and all Rin wanted was a few hours of unconsciousness before she had to start her day.

000000000000

He could feel the sun rising, could feel the world turning from night to day. Zatoichi woke with the dawn, stretching his back and shaking the covers from his shoulders, he nosed open his door and padded down the short hall to his parent's room, following his mother's scent. Working his white head to widen the crack in the door, he peered in to find his mother fast asleep, his new sister's basket placed near the head of the futon, in case she should require attention. Zatoichi wormed through the door and padded over to his sister. She was asleep as well.

If Zatoichi could scowl properly, he would have. Here was the start of a beautiful day, already he could smell the crisp autumn air, the world was alive and buzzing around them, and all these two could do was sleep the day away. Looking at his mother, the dark circles etched beneath her eyes, Zatoichi's plan to wake them up was suddenly shattered.

'How late was she up writing father's letter?' he wondered. She began the project when he went to bed, and from the looks of it, she had been at it all night. Zatoichi may have looked like a dog, but he was a very perceptive boy. Retreating from his parent's room, he endeavored to secure his own breakfast that morning, and let his mother sleep.

Once outside, Zatoichi did a visual once-over of his surroundings. The pavilion, with his mothers carefully arranged flowerbeds and clean swept stone was a familiar sight. The thick tree line just beyond the low wall was promising. All sorts of things had a tendency to hide in the underbrush. Zatoichi trotted over to the wall, his nails clicking across the white stone, and leapt over the barrier with one, clean bound.

'Quiet feet,' he reminded himself of an earlier lesson, and his paws were properly silent on the forest floor, thick with weeds and rotting leaves. Much of the smaller foliage had shed for the autumn, which was fortunate, as it lessened the sound when his thick coat brushed along an errant branch. Focusing his many senses, he found the faint scent of a hare on the air, less than a mile upwind.

Grinning to himself, he started off into the morning with pleasant thoughts of raw, squirming rabbit clenched between his jaws.

0000000000

Sesshomaru was bored.

He had scoured the forest, Jaken hot on his heels, for the entire evening only to come up with nothing. No scavenging yokai, no challenging young upstart, just the normal inhabitants of the wood going about their normal yokai routine that was almost as mundane as a normal human routine; except that they could leap to the top of the tree to pluck up their firewood, which, he supposed, was marginally more exciting than gathering it from the forest floor. The old fox-woman Rin kept company with even asked him in for tea when he passed by her burrow. Worse than that, he actually considered taking her up on the offer!

Bored was, perhaps, the wrong word. Restless was more appropriate to his current condition. Without a doubt, the inhabitants of this forest were ideally content with him here as their protector. They had even seen to the care of his home while he and Rin traveled, and he had no qualms with residing here with his hanyou children and human wife, to whom they showed only adoration or, at the least, a respectful difference. Perhaps, after his mother visited, he would send Rin to his brother's so he could complete a thorough inspection of his greater territory. Maybe he could conquer more lands, while he was at it. He felt like some mild to intense bloodshed was in order to still the itch in his claws.

Glancing back at Jaken, as the morning sun warmed color into the world, he realized his old retainer was losing speed. He may as well return home. There was, unfortunately and fortunately, definitely nothing untoward here for him to deal with, and Rin was, no doubt, most likely bogged down with preparations for his mother's arrival.

Why his mother even intended to come was beyond him, but after receiving her letter - which duly scolded him for not mentioning his wedding or her grandchildren, and basically invited herself over - he decided that her visiting could not possibly be as bad as he assumed it would. She did, after all, save Rin's life, and there was a time when he was very small that he actually remembered her being a somewhat warm and caring matriarch. He was not looking forward to the upcoming tongue-lashing he was going to receive from her, but if she was that upset about not being told, then she must, in some unfathomable way, be content with his decision.

He really didn't want to think too hard on the whole thing. Females confused him, be they wives or mothers (he thanked every star in the heavens he didn't have some insipid sister to deal with), and as much as he loved Rin, he was beginning to believe that all her little inconsistencies had less to due with her humanity and more to do with her confounding gender.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru said, rousing the imp from a light doze as he leaned against the staff of skulls.

"Ah," Jaken drawled, half asleep on his feet, "yes, mi'lord?"

"We are returning home."

"Yes mi'lord!" Jaken sighed, almost dreamily. He could hear his futon calling him, and after decades of traveling and sleeping on forest floors, it was nice to have a futon in a comfortable little room to return to.

0000000000

The unsuspecting creature was square in his sights. Ghosting through the reedy grasses, Zatoichi kept a steady sight on the hare as he prowled, slowly, silently through the field. Every step appeared as though he were moving through viscous mud.

'Control,' he chanted, mindful of his father's words. Control everything, every muscle, and the bend of each blade of grass. _If it is within your power,_ his father's voice echoed in his mind,_ then you should have mastery over it._

The hare ceased his chewing, suddenly alert, and Zatoichi froze mid step, like a white statue. If he were to strike now, he knew that the creature had no means of escape, but this was as much an exercise in stealth as it was a hunt for breakfast. He watched as the rabbit's jaws began to move again, he could hear the grinding of molars against vegetation, the soft howl of the wind whistling in his ears, the distant sound of human children.

Wait...

'Human children,' he wondered idly, 'what are they doing this deep in father's forest?' Zatoichi picked his head up above the grass line, startling his prey, which escaped without his notice. The only human children he had ever met were in his uncle's village, and they mostly kept their distance from him, wary of the giant white dog that haunted Inuyasha's hut from time to time. These children were probably from the nearby village, but that was at least a dozen miles away from here, and they should not have been able to make it through the magical barriers that his father set.

Curious, Zatoichi set out to intercept them. Breakfast could wait.

0000000000

Mizuki huddled close to her younger brother and sister. They whimpered quietly into her ruined, coarse kimono. All three were bound painfully by their hands and feet, and were caked with the grime of travel. Her younger brother, Hichiro, sported a particularly large lump on his forehead; a warning from the men that abducted them that silence was preferred. The bandits that took them were large, gnarled looking characters, three in all. The meanest and roughest was their leader, who the other two only referred to as "Boss." The others, Hiro and Yaru, looked like brothers. They were dressed in old, worn armor. Mizuki was still quite young, only six winters old, but she was relatively sure they were deserters turned outlaw. The lot of them stormed into their parents small hut, situated out of the village because they were farmers, killed the adults, her mother father and grandmother, raided what little stores they had and took off with her and her two siblings not four nights ago.

She was scared and hungry and tired and terrified by what they had planed for her and her bother and sister. From what she could gather, they were set to be sold into what seemed to be an unsavory line of work. Mizuki really didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to contemplate what her life would be like now, or the lives of her siblings. She concentrated on enjoying what little time left she had with them, in all likeliness, she would never see them once they reached their destination.

'At least we've stopped for a bit,' she thought, wriggling her blistered feet, which were beginning to prickle. They had been tirelessly marched through the woods for the past four days; their captors most likely hoping to slip capture themselves.

Her sister, Saya, was starting to slip into sleep, and Hichiro looked like he would soon follow. Mizuki was tired herself, but she was interested in the huddle that the men had formed a few feet away. They were arguing about something in hushed tones. Mizuki caught the odd word here and there: "mononoke," "cursed," and none of these snippets of conversation put her mind at ease. Didn't her grandmother say the King of Beasts haunted this forest? What if they all found their end at the jaws of some vicious demon?

'Better that than what these three have planed for us,' she decided. Mizuki closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer to the Kami. 'Please,' she begged, 'let us meet our end here, not at some terrible place. Then, at least, these men will get what they deserve.'

It would seem the Kami had listened.

There was a terrible braying, a sound between a howl and a roar; and Mizuki looked through the labyrinth of trees to see a large, white dog bounding towards them with its lips curled back in a snarl. Zatoichi didn't know much about humans, but he knew bandits when he saw them. His father had struck down enough in their travels for him to recognize the stench of old, cheap sake, sweat and cruelty. These men had obviously captured the children, and he would not have bandits tote their live cargo through his father's protectorate. They had no right.

The men had pulled their weapons, poor excuses for swords, and readied for his attack, but they were not prepared for his speed. They were especially not prepared for his poison. Zatoichi called his acid saliva and claws to life. Dodging the first, ill planned swing at his head, he twisted and bit down on the man's ribcage. His poison was not as virile as his father's, but it burned through human flesh well enough. The man's torso bubbled around the bite, and Zatoichi twisted and pulled, bringing half of the bandit's ribs and lungs with him.

One down, two left, this would be easier than he thought.

Boss and Hiro retreated a few stepped, unnerved by their companion's swift and brutal death. It was Hiro who regained himself first, intent in avenging his brother. With a guttural curse he charged Zatoichi, who leaped clear over his head, turning midair to raze his burning claws down the man's back. Through armor and flesh they tore, exposing the spine. Hiro fell forward, screaming in hot agony, and Zatoichi immediately pounced on his head, landing a killing blow on the neck. Unfortunately, he did not pay heed to the Boss, who dove forward and buried his sword deep in the boy's thigh. Boss pulled back on his blade, ready to deliver another strike, but the ill kept sword snapped in Zatoichi's tightened muscle. The dog turned, enraged, and lunged for his throat, and that was that.

Mizuki, Saya and Hichiro were shaking in their bonds. Throughout the whole gory battle, they didn't make a sound. Now the dog was looking square at them, a length of metal protruding from his leg. Mizuki closed her eyes and buried her head in her sister's hair, preparing for the worse.

"Don't look," she warned her siblings.

Zatoichi observed the frightened children. 'I suppose they aren't accustomed to such things,' he surmised, surveying his work. Keeping his head and ears down, he wagged his tail, attempting to put forth a friendly greeting, a sound between a whine and a happy yip. That only seemed to make the children shake harder.

Deciding actions were probably better than words, of which he had none, he limped towards the eldest girl and pulled at her bound ankles. Mizuki looked up from her sister's head to find the white dog gnawing at the rope. Soon her feet were free, and her hands soon followed. Mizuki sat dumbfounded as he limped around the terrified huddle and repeated the action for her brother and sister. Then, the dog lifted his head, nudged his nose under her chin and gently licked her cheek.

Mizuki looked at the scene of the bandits, their blood soaked into the forest floor. The dog was covered in blood too, most of it not his own. The blade still stuck out of his thigh. Mizuki wasn't sure what the dog wanted, but when she looked into his soft, golden eyes, she knew he didn't mean to hurt them.

"Thank you," Mizuki breathed, and dared to reach out and trace the purple crescent on his forehead. "Are you the King of Beasts?" she asked him, awed. The dog emitted a breathy bark that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"Can you get us home?" Saya piped up, helping Hichiro to his feet. The dog considered them for a moment, tilting his head to the side. Glancing at his leg, and then back at them, he leaned forward and tugged gently on Mizuki's kimono.

"What is it?" the girl wondered out loud. The dog huffed, limped a few steps away and looked back at them.

Mizuki's brows furrowed. "Do you want us to follow you?" The dog barked, a loud but not threatening sound, and wagged his tail. Mizuki met the unsure gaze of her siblings and shrugged.

The dog made to continue on, and Mizuki grabbed Saya's hand. The three walked foreword hand in hand, a strange follow-the-leader.

"Hey," Mizuki shouted to the dog, which was already a good pace ahead of them, despite his injury, "wait for us!"


End file.
